Takin' nothin' away from the man, the greatest 200/400 runner ever . . but that 19:32 was run on a track built specifically with him in mind to set a WR: VERY HARD. Don't think there's another track around quite like that one. If there were, the distance folks would never run on it.
An Athletics unification bout!!
I think the best distance for Tergat vs Johnson would be a 1200m that would be enough to be equally far away from each other strengths.
In a race between Tergat and El G I reckon around a 6-7km race would be perfect for the same reason.
Would be awsome!!
You guys are all forgetting one major point... in a head to head competition with money on the line, MJ is going to pull up lame every time. The part I can't figure out is how Tergat will still manage somehow to finish second like he always does. I think if the rabbit was smart he'd sit tight after 500 and let both MJ (pulling up with his lame hamstring) and Tergat come back to him.
El-G would kill either of these people at their prime in anything over 401 meters.
"slap"
Tell 'em to put on their road flats and get after it.
Redrow wrote:
An Athletics unification bout!!
Why not 5k? Isn't Paul's pb around 12:46?
In a race between Tergat and El G I reckon around a 6-7km race would be perfect for the same reason.
Would be awsome!!
AM Runner wrote:
I think this is a great question - I would have to go with MJ here go any higher and it goes to Tergat. The biggest part there is that I don't think Tergat could take MJ out of his comfort zone. I feel as someone else stated that MJ would not have to lead at all Tergat would be forced to break MJ by taking it out hard, MJ could hang it would be a hard pace buut I just don't think he coul dtake the kick out of him... Interestingly though I think Geb would fare better because of his superior kick (compare to Tergat) El-G would probably abuse the lot in the 800 but another race I would be interested in seeing woul dbe a 600 between El-G and MJ - that would be an amazing race
el-g and mj in a 600! good one. i would love to see that.
furthermore, i too would like to berrate the guy who thought a 1000 between el-g and mj would be a good idea. i mean come on, are you serious?
[quote]ScottRuled wrote:
[quote]Redrow wrote:
In a race between Tergat and El G I reckon around a 6-7km race would be perfect for the same reason.
F-ed that up.
Why not? Isn't PT's pb around 12:46?
MJ is like a drag race car and Terget is more like a Yugo. Doubtful MJ could keep his form together for two laps. I see a lot of blown up MJ wreckage lying on the track from 600-725m. MJ would not finish this race.
I think the 800m is much more of a sprint than some of the posters are assuming -- and in that respect, I can't imagine a 43.18 man running anything slower than 1:47 under the right circumstances. (remember, that's simply 53.5 seconds per lap -- can you really imagine MJ struggling to run 10 seconds slower than his best at 400M?)
Tergat, on the other hand, might struggle to break 1:50 - even though that's 'only' 55 seconds per lap. The second lap, in my opinion, would be easier for him than the first and I can't see him taking it out in 55 -- he needs more time to "wind it up" and the 800m doesn't afford that.
I'd put my cash on the 1996 MJ in a mano-a-mano 800m.
Martin
Martin wrote:
I think the 800m is much more of a sprint than some of the posters are assuming -- and in that respect, I can't imagine a 43.18 man running anything slower than 1:47 under the right circumstances. (remember, that's simply 53.5 seconds per lap -- can you really imagine MJ struggling to run 10 seconds slower than his best at 400M?)
Tergat, on the other hand, might struggle to break 1:50 - even though that's 'only' 55 seconds per lap. The second lap, in my opinion, would be easier for him than the first and I can't see him taking it out in 55 -- he needs more time to "wind it up" and the 800m doesn't afford that.
I'd put my cash on the 1996 MJ in a mano-a-mano 800m.
Martin
i don't know about that logic. everyone is saying that it's x seconds slower than his pr... i knew a guy in the mid 90's who had run 45 high over 400 and he used the same logic. it's 9 to 10 seconds over my pr per lap he'd say (trying to hit 1:50). he never broke 1:53. now, that's not to say mj couldn't run 1:47... in fact i think he'd probably be able to do that if not faster. but i don't think that logic really holds up.
MJ definitely at 800m for all the reasons cited. Where it would start to turn toward Tergat would be at 1000 meters.
Would MJ come out of blocks?
I remeber seeing MJ run 45 and change letting up with 70m to go, just cruising home - he could have run sub 1:41 if he had trained for it.
My money would be on Tergat in an impromptu race; but probably on MJ if they both devoted serious training for a while to racing 800m. Sure, the pace would be ridiculously slow for MJ, but MJ doesn't train to move efficiently at ~53 sec per 400, he trains to fly. He can't fly for 800m, and I don't know how well he'd be able to shift gears after running for about 80 sec at an unfamiliar pace. This is why I say Tergat today, but MJ with adequate prep.
I would put my money on Tergat in a head to head. The fact MJ has run 19.3 is the reason he wouldn'y win. You need a hell of a lot of fast twitch fibers to run that time, so a 50 second openning will kill him. If the first lap was 52/53 then MJ could go well on the second lap and even run 1.46.
So, for Tergat to win he has to take it out hard, I would say he could do a 48 high and go through a second off that. If MJ goes with him, Tergat wins, if MJ sits off the pace and goes through in 53 will fly by him in the last 150m. It just comes down to MJ controlling himself in the first lap. 49/50 will seem so slow to him, he will think he is going slower than he is until the wheels come off at on the back straight. Winning time 1.47.2 Tergat, MJ DNF
Running a 800m is not about running a fast 400m it is about running two of them.
those who are saying mj would not win because most 400 guys blow up on the second lap and cannot run for 800 remember that most 400 guys did not run 43.
My point was that most 400m runners have not run 19.33.
The faster you are the more you will tire. If you have 99% FT muscles you couldn't even walk 800m well.
I'm really not sure I could picture Paul Tergat running a 48-second opening lap in an 800 ... still, it would be a sight to see. (I mean, Johnny Gray has difficulty going out in 48 - and while he may share Tergat's gangliness, the two are very different athletes)
My cash is still on MJ.
Because of a fluke of history, I ended up running in an 800m race in Tampa in 1987 - which turned out to be the 800m debut of one Mark Everett.
Prior to that race, Mark had been a long jumper/sprinter of marginal success (at the collegiate level) and entered the race on little more than a lark.
He won - in 1:47 and change - and the rest is athletics history.
Martin
Larry Mboga could beat both of them... just ask him.
"slap"
dk46 wrote:
el-g and mj in a 600! good one. i would love to see that.
furthermore, i too would like to berrate the guy who thought a 1000 between el-g and mj would be a good idea. i mean come on, are you serious?
Berate Away.
MJ and El G in a 600 wouldnt be a race. MJ would own El G. The reason why I said that MJ and El G would be a good race over 1k is that I consider MJ to have the ability to dominate in the 800. Kipketer and MJ over 600 would be interesting.