Alysia Montano deserves a Congratulatory Lets Run Page

Juanterino was a 43 second 400m runner. And in relative terms, he did not run his first 200m as fast as Montano. Nobody said you can't lead. Farah has shown how leading when the kick starts is advantageous. But going out at a suicidal pace is...well... suicidal.

Ummm...the point is to try to win races. If that proves infeasible then try to medal.

The notion that racing stupidly somehow makes one a hero is beyond moronic.

coach d wrote:

Guess he didn't know how to race either, should have fired his coach, and listened to anonymous posters on Letsrun.

He could have gone even faster if he'd started sub-50. He had plenty left at the end of that race.

she's jacked to the gill on steroids but sadly that doesn't make her smart enough not to start the 800 like a 400....

Maggie Vessey was more of a 400/800 type also and she ran just the opposite of Alysia Montano. Maggie's splits were a lot more even and in the years she trained under Greg Brock she still had a devastating kick. I don't know why you think Montano wouldn't have a kick if she went out in 58-59 instead of 56-57. But who knows, if she continues her strategy of going out crazy, one of these days she may hold on and get the American record.

eThis is Alberto Juantorena winning the 800 in 1976:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQf0ZW005MM

Guess he didn't know how to race either, should have fired his coach, and listened to anonymous posters on Letsrun.

This is Joaquim Cruz in 1984 in one of the greatest 800 meter races ever held, running mostly just behind the front in a very fast pace that burned Sebastian Coe (and Ovett):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BABr2DA26Xw

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so none of these guys burned the first lap in the same way alysia did

Montano reminds me of Khadevis Robinson who took it hard from the gun and front ran for most of his career. He finally changed up his stategy last year and ended up making up the Olympic team. If he ran smart earlier in his career he could of probably been 1:42 and medaled in some WC's or OG's

I'll let Pre know...

old guy 67 wrote:

Maggie Vessey was more of a 400/800 type also and she ran just the opposite of Alysia Montano. Maggie's splits were a lot more even and in the years she trained under Greg Brock she still had a devastating kick. I don't know why you think Montano wouldn't have a kick if she went out in 58-59 instead of 56-57. But who knows, if she continues her strategy of going out crazy, one of these days she may hold on and get the American record.

Yeah, and who knows, if I keep banging my head against the wall, one of these days the wall may crack rather than my head.

TrackieFan wrote:

The gutsiest, ballsiest display of what it means to be a warrior on display for the USA at the world champs. None of that sit and kick silliness. She went out to slay her rivals from the gun and to win Gold, not a runner up medal but Gold. She may have died in the homestretch but the bish went down fighting and fight she did like a lion. I salute this woman's gold medal like performance.

You aren't complimenting her by saying she's gutsy and then calling her a "bish." You shouldn't be calling any woman that ever.

Anyway, no she should not be praised for that performance. It was a dumb performance and she willingly threw away a medal. Did she not learn her lesson from London? There is absolutely NO reason why she shouldn't have made the podium this year. No excuse at all. It's like she ran like she wanted to lose. What is up with the 26 and 56 second splits? Just slow down to 27-28 and 57-58 and you won't die a horrible death in the last 100m.

Someone else said this on another thread but no one would credit Rupp if he ran a sub 4 first mile of the 5000m and then finished last. To those who love Pre, you can "give less than your best and sacrifice the gift" by going too slow, but you can also do the same thing by going out too fast.

Some people "give less than [their] best and sacrifice the gift by going out too slow and letting races become kickers races (i.e. the Kenyans and Ethiopians in the 5000m/10000m). And some people "give less than [their] best and sacrifice the gift" by going out too fast (i.e. Montano in the 800m). Both are bad and shouldn't get credit, especially a case like her when she had a medal in the bag if she had just been patient for the first 200m.

In the end, it's results that matter.

If she (Montano) likes to lead, then back off of the world record pace the first lap and still lead but always leave something for the homestretch.

Martinez is an exemplary model of how to get the most out of herself over the entire distance and "time" her finish to get a result she could be somewhat satisfied with. Maybe she couldn't win it this time but didn't come away empty handed either. She can live with the fact that a couple other runners were just better than her on that day but Alyssa can't really admit that to herself. The other runners aren't better than her, their just better at judging their own effort to maximize their potential and gaining the results that matter, medaling. Breaking records is secondary in major medal meets.

Championship meets are about racing no matter what the pace or conditions. Not time-trialing and running in train formation. However, that's how the men's race in London turned out but that is pretty rare. Rudisha was the key for that to happen. Without him, nobody else in the race runs as fast as they did. Easier for Solomon to follow than to lead eh? Worked domestically but not internationally because there are just too many good runners beyond our borders.

No Way Man wrote:

Yeah, and who knows, if I keep banging my head against the wall, one of these days the wall may crack rather than my head.

^this

4th in Daegu, 5th in London and now 4th in Moscow. - All with the same tactic. She was talented and strong enough to medal at any of those meets. She (and/or her coach) are either stubborn or a complete idiot! This tactic might work for other runners, it might work against less talented runners for her, but it is not working against the world's best at the top meets for her.

Congratulatory Lets Run Page? Absolutely not! At least not until she breaks out of this moronic/stubborn tactic against the world's best.

I read the love fest praising of how she ran her race. I then watched it and immediately thought of highschool races. She ran like an idiot. And her comments about how her training indicated that she should have finished better then she did...um...so your training was indicating a 4 second pr and a new world record?

Emil C wrote:

"Guts" don't mean jack. Successful athletes are the ones who are well-trained AND implement a decent strategy. Montano runs like a 14 year old. Completely idiotic.

Exactly right. You will never win a championship 800 running progressively slower every 200.

26 28 30 31?!!! It is not so much how fast you run, but the way you get there. You cannot have your fastest 200 be the first one, obviously you are going out way too hard.

Someone should sit her down and talk to her about running more even splits where you do not burn up all your energy and try to hold on for another minute & a half. ridiculous.

Lipophile wrote:

Yeah, it takes balls to not medal, falling pathetically to the ground at the finish line like a clumsy fool after busting out to a ridiculous lead in the first 200 meters, like the douchebags in the middle school PE mile who finish with a 13-minute mile.

Yeah, congratulations. What a pathetic dork. It takes balls to do what it takes to get a medal. Like develop a kick.

I don't go this far (above). But falling over, staying on the ground & sobbing are all demonstrative. If Montano gave the exact same effort, but finished per normal- not much would be said. I'm pretty sure the other runners gave 100% as well.

oldhalfmileguy wrote:

You cannot have your fastest 200 be the first one

Have you ever even seen an 800?

coach d wrote:

Bad Wigins wrote:

I have already tried to explain this to them, but it's way above their heads. They're distance runners.

If it weren't for the Kenyan's dream performance, they'd all be calling Montano a hero for leading the US to 2 medals.

This is Alberto Juantorena winning the 800 in 1976:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQf0ZW005MM

Guess he didn't know how to race either, should have fired his coach, and listened to anonymous posters on Letsrun.

This is Joaquim Cruz in 1984 in one of the greatest 800 meter races ever held, running mostly just behind the front in a very fast pace that burned Sebastian Coe (and Ovett):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BABr2DA26Xw

You Sir are an idiot and if a coach you should be laughed out of track. Did you happen to notice that both those examples you cited that they both ran the 3rd 200 in roughly the same time as their previous splits?

It is fine to lead if you are doing it evenly

Juantorena 25 26 26

Coe 25 27 26

Montano 26 28 30

The fact that Montano went out at a pace that was basically what Coe & Juantorena went out in shows that she was foolish

and let her emotions get the better of her.

Bad Wigins wrote:

oldhalfmileguy wrote:

You cannot have your fastest 200 be the first one

Have you ever even seen an 800?

First you should know there are 2 G's in Wiggins

second people make mistakes, but the 1st 200 should not be your fastest in the sense that it should be relatively the same speed as your 3rd 200. If it is noticeably slower you have went out too fast and you are not running efficiently and will die rapidly.

Yeah that is why Juantorena was running about the same pace for the first 200 as the 3rd 200. I guess he was not a 400 runner.

You two jokers know nothing about how to run efficiently for the 800. Get back to me when you do.