As to those wave lights set at world record pace, I remember when Kip Keino raced them during the first pro go around in the early 1970's. Might as well put a rabbit out there like in greyhound races and have the runners chase it....
It seems like all this "time trialing" is exciting as fast times are generated, but to me, it is like playing basketball by yourself. You score a lot of points, but you don't win the game.
Is this really track when races are set up by runners who only run parts of the race and then drop off and then one hopes the actual runner can keep the pace going? Seems kind of anti-climatic to me.
I hope more head to head competition comes along in the not too distant future. To me these "time trials" are dress rehearsals, not the main attraction.
What a loser that pretender to the throne known as Goose is! I mean, he FAILED to break the world record. What a pathetic time! (Of course I don't mean it.)
As to those wave lights set at world record pace, I remember when Kip Keino raced them during the first pro go around in the early 1970's. Might as well put a rabbit out there like in greyhound races and have the runners chase it....
It seems like all this "time trialing" is exciting as fast times are generated, but to me, it is like playing basketball by yourself. You score a lot of points, but you don't win the game.
Is this really track when races are set up by runners who only run parts of the race and then drop off and then one hopes the actual runner can keep the pace going? Seems kind of anti-climatic to me.
I hope more head to head competition comes along in the not too distant future. To me these "time trials" are dress rehearsals, not the main attraction.
people want to know what people are capable of. the lesser runners get to find out what they are capable of by tailing on to the winners. Why should't the winners get a little help in finding out what they are capable of?
There would rarely ever be record attempts if pacing wasn't a thing. or rather there would just be less of them because it's a little more difficult to find UNOFFICIAL PACERS. but not really that difficult honestly.
If you watch teh conference championships, you would have seen A LOT of pacing going on out there.
As to those wave lights set at world record pace, I remember when Kip Keino raced them during the first pro go around in the early 1970's. Might as well put a rabbit out there like in greyhound races and have the runners chase it....
It seems like all this "time trialing" is exciting as fast times are generated, but to me, it is like playing basketball by yourself. You score a lot of points, but you don't win the game.
Is this really track when races are set up by runners who only run parts of the race and then drop off and then one hopes the actual runner can keep the pace going? Seems kind of anti-climatic to me.
I hope more head to head competition comes along in the not too distant future. To me these "time trials" are dress rehearsals, not the main attraction.
Anti-climactic? Like when Bannister broke 4? When Kipchoge broke 2? People who complain about pacers will never cease to baffle me. Like would you rather see the race go super slow until the final 200 meters?
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this is the offseason, they aren't even in top shape
The schedule was never more than 25:00 behind today, I ran today right before the mile and it was announced a couple times that the meet was 25:00 behind and would remain so, so every athlete and coach knew it in advance. The problem with the pacing lights being slightly off the correct world record pace is a different issue that is important. But for heavens sake enough with leaning on lights to know what pace you need to run for a world record. The pacers too went too slow and overall these time trial record attempts at some point are going to hit these problems, especially if it’s not a diamond league type meet.
As to those wave lights set at world record pace, I remember when Kip Keino raced them during the first pro go around in the early 1970's. Might as well put a rabbit out there like in greyhound races and have the runners chase it....
Wait....wavelights in the early 70s? Did I overlook something for 50+ years?
This post was edited 11 minutes after it was posted.
I'd be in shambles if I flew across the country specifically to break a WR, and the one meet of the season that has a different organizer ends up an hour behind schedule, and they won't shuffle events around or anything.
No offense but Heather Maclean just ran 4:17.01 dealing with the same schedule nonsense. Yared just didn’t have his best day today nor was the setup great on all fronts.
Don't get me wrong, Maclean had a fantastic race, and Yared had a great one too. 3:47 is still like top 5 all time. But Maclean didn't get wavelights out specifically to target a fast time, and she wasn't specifically targeting the WR. Yared did and was.
Not saying he'd have broken the WR if the schedule went as planned, just that I (and seemingly a lot of people) had higher expectations for BU based on how expertly they've run their prior meets.
It was when pro track make its first appearance. From the NY Times in 1973:
"A new professional track and field tour began officially last Saturday night in Los Angeles, but some of the old predicaments of the amateur circuit still prevailed. Kip Keino beat Jim Ryun again In the mile, Bob Seagren won the pole vault, Martin McGrady failed to appear, faulty lap‐counting fouled up two races, the program ran 45 minutes late, and Bob Hayes proved that he probably is still the world's fastest human. The most encouraging note to the entire show was the announced crowd of 12,280, which may convince many skeptics that “go‐for‐dough,” or “dash‐for‐cash,” as the pro tour has been dubbed, can draw equally as well as the “run‐for‐fun” circuit. As with amateur meets, the mile was billed as the feature event, and promoters had installed pacing lights around the track to entice a world indoor record pace for Keino and Ryun. Unfortunately, Keino's winning time, 4 minutes 6 seconds, was nothing for officials of the International Track Association to shout about, and only a 57.7‐second final quarter‐mile kept the enigmatic Ryun from being wiped out by more than 12 yards. He ran 4:07.1. Keino, the 33‐year‐old, two‐time Olympic champion from Kenya, took the lead on the second lap of the 11‐lap race and extended his margin over Ryun to 30 yards. A lap‐counter machine had been set up on the track to inform the spectators the number of laps the runners had completed. But in apparent confusion over whether the runners had passed the sensory device that trips the counter, the gun to mark the final lap was fired with two laps to go."
It was when pro track make its first appearance. From the NY Times in 1973:
"A new professional track and field tour began officially last Saturday night in Los Angeles, but some of the old predicaments of the amateur circuit still prevailed. Kip Keino beat Jim Ryun again In the mile, Bob Seagren won the pole vault, Martin McGrady failed to appear, faulty lap‐counting fouled up two races, the program ran 45 minutes late, and Bob Hayes proved that he probably is still the world's fastest human. The most encouraging note to the entire show was the announced crowd of 12,280, which may convince many skeptics that “go‐for‐dough,” or “dash‐for‐cash,” as the pro tour has been dubbed, can draw equally as well as the “run‐for‐fun” circuit. As with amateur meets, the mile was billed as the feature event, and promoters had installed pacing lights around the track to entice a world indoor record pace for Keino and Ryun. Unfortunately, Keino's winning time, 4 minutes 6 seconds, was nothing for officials of the International Track Association to shout about, and only a 57.7‐second final quarter‐mile kept the enigmatic Ryun from being wiped out by more than 12 yards. He ran 4:07.1. Keino, the 33‐year‐old, two‐time Olympic champion from Kenya, took the lead on the second lap of the 11‐lap race and extended his margin over Ryun to 30 yards. A lap‐counter machine had been set up on the track to inform the spectators the number of laps the runners had completed. But in apparent confusion over whether the runners had passed the sensory device that trips the counter, the gun to mark the final lap was fired with two laps to go."