Sprintgeezer wrote:
The 5000 and the 10,000 are the same event, whether the athletes are clean or not. Ditch the longer one. In the sit-and-kick era, the 3000 is also the same.
10,000 and marathon, same talent pool.
The 1500 is a nothing distance, only around because it is the metric mile.
The 100 and 200 can be very different given all clean athletes, but that ship sailed a long time ago. Ditch the 200 because the 100 is more pure.
400 exists only because it is 1 lap of a track based on the mile.
800 is just another mile-based track convenience, attracting athletes too slow for the 400 and aerobically inferior for the mile.
Given the realities of existing facilities, I say:
100
400
Mile
5000
Marathon
or:
100
800
5000
Marathon
, or something like that.
If you want to keep another of those longer middle distances, make it a skill race like hurdles—i.e. steeple—which have a huge technique component.
Lets face it, a lot of the races are contrived, just like in swimming, with all the 100/200 distances, and now the combined relays.
Look at real diving—at various levels you can see 1m and 3m springboard, and 5m, 7m, and 10m platform—but when it gets real it’s just 3m springboard and 10m platform—and now, maybe the marathon-equivalent 20+ m survival attempt that is the high dive. Yes I know that there is synchro, but that is the hurdles/steeple equivalent.
Simplicity = purity = appeal.
Track broadcasting in the US SUCKS. They hire butterhead ex-athletes who have a love affair with the US system. BORING. They are unlistenable morons, just look at what Lewis Johnson just did. Their minds don’t work fast enough for any interesting play-by-play calls, the races are better to watch with music instead .
It’s NOT a time thing, it is a moron commentator thing. Just look at nordic skiing’s Chad Salmela, that guy can make a 2-hour race scintillating. He was great well before his “Here comes Diggins!!!” fame.
Compared to him, track commentators are absolutely flaccid. They need to forget about ex-hero athletes like SRR on NBC and Ackbar on BBC. They SUCK.
Look at figure skating. Yes I said it, FIGURE SKATING. They hire ex-athletes, but only keep the ones good at media—that freak Johnny Weir, and the latest, Tanith Belbin. They are both great, and Weir is even partnered with the Grinch. Yes there are some old hangers-on, but they have been replacing them.
Track SUCKS at putting on a show. Their idea of interesting is some cheap flamethrowers at the finish line that the athletes don’t even have to run through—or worse yet, some angle grinders in boxes set up for athlete intros. Or the worst, a vomit of mylar litter after medals.
Unreal. Embarrassing. MORONS.
i like the above ideas.
instead of the 10k they could have a half marathon, which is different from 5k and marathon.
also cross country, with real hurdles, uphill and downhill and water would be a different race than 10k, that is if you made the terrain very challenging and rough in places.