Why is the track 10,000m a race

I've always thought it should be a non competitive group fun run.

Medals for alm wrote:

I've always thought it should be a non competitive group fun run.

Nice troll bro

Watching a 10,000m play out is terrific. XC might be watchable in total if the course design allowed but that is not likely and if there were big views the runners might often be farther away than the opposite side of the track. But then there is the potential for mud and hills.

When athletes tell me that 25 laps of a track is boring, I reply that then they are not racing. When people watching say the in 10,000m nothing happens for a long time, I think of someone saying that the Bach Partita #2 in Dm is just a bunch of notes one after another.

Tom

Sprinter. wrote:

5 laps on the track seems like a lot,

Sure

dunes runner wrote:

The track 10,000 is the hardest track event, because most people - like the OP - are not able to do it.

Thus the 10,000 meter race is the most exciting event on the track.

Except when Mo Farah's in the race, and it invariably becomes a jog fest.

It’s all relative. Most people can make it around the track 25 times, but can’t truly run a 10K. By the same token, most people can run for 400 meters, but can’t truly hold a sprint for that long.

If either the 5k or 10k had to be done away with, I would actually chose to drop the 5k. Until the end of last year the 5k had been a snooze-fest for years. All sit and kicks. Every time. It is probably because the 5k was run so much more than the 10k, but based on 5k and 10k races over the past several years, I think the 10k has been much more exciting.

The track 10,000, race is going extinct.

Sprinter. wrote:

I understand 5000m but I feel like this is a bit excessive. Not the distance itself but 5 laps on the track seems like a lot, especially when there are few racing opportunities on the pro circuit. Not looking to start an argument but I feel like this distance would be better suited to the roads/xc instead of track racing. Leave your thoughts below

Track 10,000m is dead now. It is just full of dopers anyway so I will be happy to see Coe get rid of it. I miss the good old days -

The relentlessness of the track 10000m is what it makes it a great race. You have to keep grinding and everyone knows just what pace they are going and that they will lose face if they drop off the pace. On the roads, no one knows whether you picked up or slowed down but you can't hide on the track. The temporal element, where you watch it over the long haul and don't jump in and out of the race as tv tends to do, is what builds suspense and tension and makes the race gripping. That is precisely what you get from watching a marathon on tv if they cover it right, but the 10 is done in well under 30 minutes.

Make the 10000m where there is a water jump every lap where you have to jump over a pit full of piranhas

So I'm an old f*ck, 62... take it for what it is.

I love the 10,000.

Ron Clarke

Billy Mills

Emil Zatopek

Lasse Viren

Frank Shorter

Steve Prefontaine

Galen Rupp

Paul Tanui

Mo Farah

BEKELE!

GER!

TERGAT!

Long live the 10,000

I'm aware it's a women's event too, sorry for the omission!

I meant GEB. OK so I already had the first margarita. It's friday.

And also...

Al Salazar/Henry Rono throw down battle Eugene '82 I was there and it was awesome.

Big Red wrote:

So I'm an old f*ck, 62... take it for what it is.

I love the 10,000.

Ron Clarke

Billy Mills

Emil Zatopek

Lasse Viren

Frank Shorter

Steve Prefontaine

Galen Rupp

Paul Tanui

Mo Farah

BEKELE!

GER!

TERGAT!

Long live the 10,000

I'm aware it's a women's event too, sorry for the omission!

Pre doesn't belong on your list. He only ran it twice and they were both solo runs.

SDSU Aztec, it's true that Pre does not belong on my list in terms of his overall career record in the 10,000.

But, on a personal level, Pre belongs on my list. I was a high school kid when he ran his solo AR 27:43. It had a huge impact on my friends and I at the time. We gained a sense of what could be achieved with hard work and a can-do attitude.

just stating the obvious here wrote:

I like watching 10000 m races on the track. It's better than a road race because you can see where all the guys are, and stuff always happens. It's over in less than half an hour which I don't consider to be long at all.

Agree 10km on the road is nowhere near as good to watch on road. They only follow the lead group. It's hard to see exactly where 400m to go etc is, usually just one camera angle on road.

How does it being on road make it better to watch?

XC should be a Winter Olympic event. There should be a 4x1600 relay.

The 100 should be dropped, but won't be, because it is a shorter race than the 200 and run at a slower pace.

The 10,000 would be a much better spectacle if the coverage did not so totally suck all the time.

The Hoka 100k announcing was great and that event lasted 6.5 hours with almost zero brakes.

If the 10,000 had better coverage it could easily be exciting enough for our instant gratification culture, and it clearly has a place in the sport.

" Remove 10k from oly, add in cross country (no exact distance, varies from 8 to 12k). Add in 4x800m relay or DMR."

This!