10000m Elimination Race

What if last place was knocked out and first place had to take the water jump? That would be really interesting. The pack would get super tight as being in last means you are gone but being in first means that there is a good chance that you are going to be gone after the next lap.

i like your analysis lite-mayo

I agree that rupp would be the favourite, but the last person eliminated is probably Lomong.

Also, what purpose would it serve for the 800meter runners to take it out hard. Surely they are better served by a "sit and kick" strategy. Anyone with good closing speed is going to assume they can pick off at least one person on the homestretch.

I think you'd see a first lap in the low 60s and a marathoner will get taken out.

I feel like Lamong should be up there as a favorite. Versatile (800-5k), great speed, won't get bumped around with his big body. As long as he stays ahead, when the race comes down to like 6 people, Lamong can get into great position and outkick almost everyone right now.

I agree, after seeing the 5k where Lopez sprinted the 11th lap and still held on for the win, I think he would be the winner of this elimination race. Plus, he's a Sudanese refugee so he already has experience in survival situations. I don't mean that in any derogatory way. I just think he would probably the toughest guy in the field.

It doesn't matter what the leaders run for the mile. It is what places 20 is at the mile. Basically surviving the first 3 or 4 laps is going to be a total crap shoot. Guys are going to be out in lanes 5+6 in the finishing straight and people will be losing 3 or 4+ secs just from having to move around in traffic. In reality people would be falling left and right. Strategy depends on who you are. 800/1500mm should get the lead and slow the pace to a crawl (we are talking 90s+ pace) by forming a 8person wall. The people behind you have no place to go so keep them back there until they are all eliminated. Then the mile guys should pick up the pace and make the 800m guys run full laps. And then the mile guys get to decide the winner.Not too exciting to watch.

Calling out Flagpole wrote:

cant read good wrote:

didnt read all the thread so maybe it was suggested but why not replace the 800 guys with steeplers: jager, cabral, i dont know, mccadams?

You missed out on some good discussion then! I think the middle distance guys would surge and set a fast initial pace which would effectively crack the longer distance guys unless they have a lot of natural speed like Rupp. Then they can recover while the "cracked" long distance guys are weeded out, then surge again for the finish.

I think steeplers is a good call since they are experienced with races that have surges and period of high energy output followed by lulls.

A 5/10000 specialist with a kick would win because the field is too large for 10 km elimination. The distance reqd to drop the marathoners and 800 guys is long enough to rule out milers (2 km). A 5000 elimination would be harder to call.

Cycling has this event on the velodrome--it is called the miss and out. Fun to watch.

We actually do this in our track invitational, except we do it with a 2 mile. Top 9 seeds go into the special "Devil Take The Hind Most" race. 1 eliminated per lap. The first year, one of my little sophomores won it becuase he managed not to be eliminated early on when some of the stonger runners got caught sleeping. That year it was super exciting, because it came down to a field sprint on every lap, with 300m of jogging in between. The winning time was low 11's, but no one cared because the race was awesomely exciting.

Lately, the race has gotten boring, because the strongest runners have just been hammering from the gun and stringing it out.

Do you really think someone like Rupp would let the pace drop in the middle of the race? If Rupp survives the first 4-5 laps, he's going to win. While Centro is kicking for 2nd to last place Rupp will be lapping the field.

bump bump bump

The idea of a 10k, "Devil Take the Hind Most" race would be awesome. But, only if we did it with the worlds best. That way it doesn't turn into Rupp just running away from everyone. Especially now, with no one in the world running that much faster than anyone else, like Geb or Bekele in their primes. Imagine if the race was:

Rupp

Farha

K. Bekele

T. Bekele

Tadesse

Kiprop

Lagat

Kipsoro

Lomong

Koech

Gebremeskel

Gebrhiwet

Mutai

Mosop

ect.ect.ect. You get the point.

Lets say no more than 4 per country, so the Kenyans and Ethiopians can't use extreme team tactics. Now we have ourselves a real race. Now who would win this?

No crazy steeple or velcro balls or whatever in this race. You can spice it up with other means.

-Have a preme at each lap. The first person across gets an extra $500.

-Each lap still in = $1,000 to the runner

-The lead runners cannot lap the last place runners. (That would get real interesting on a 200m track)

bump the distance down to a 3k and throw in some 400m guys.

and have it on a 300m track with an oversized steeple/waterjump at the beginning of the homestretch

keep the bonuses for laps/staying in