I agree with the OP. The existence of school teams, coaches, and meets has been an impediment to high school distance running success. Look at the countries that dominate running from 3000 on up. No such system in place, no temptation to participate in it.
Redonculous Maximus wrote:
This is a stupid thread. One of the biggest problems with high school distance running in the US is the obsession with times... specifically the ‘sub-4 mile’.
That kind of focus on time trialing and rabbited races leads to athletes that (a) don’t know how to race tactically, and (b) often overestimate their abilities relative to athletes that don’t have a 3:XX next to their name. Once they start losing to supposedly “slower” athletes, it drags down their self confidence and starts a downward spiral.
Exhibit A: Alan Webb. A great high school record that was set in a rabbited pro race, and an American record PR of 3:46 set in basically a solo time trial, but never won (or even came close to) a global title.
Exhibit B: Matt Centrowitz. Didn’t focus on time trials in high school. Won races tactically. Honed his championship racing tactics, won Olympic Gold.
I’d rather have Centro’s career, and I’d rather we have more Centros in the USA than Webbs.
This is very true, way to much emphasis on times but that just isnt a high school thing.
How did horseracing manage to avoid this? You never really see somebody say the Horse that wins the Kentucky Derby is crappy because the horse that won the North Central Idaho Derby got a better time. But the happens all the time in running, even Centrowitz doesnt get full credit for winning the Olympics because it wasnt fast enough.
OP you're wrong. Time trials are one thing but they don't produce PRs. PRs come in high profile races while drafting off lots of people and adrenaline from the crowd.
Still not the adrenaline or excitement from crowd to pull the athletes along like at Arcadia. Hard to duplicate such conditions in a time trial though you have more control over the weather and the time of the trial.
electron1661 wrote:
OP you're wrong. Time trials are one thing but they don't produce PRs. PRs come in high profile races while drafting off lots of people and adrenaline from the crowd.
Tell that to AWEBB
WishingIWasn'tAJuniour wrote:
By the way, running PRs during solo time trials? Not likely. And for those of us who aren't super-famous and don't have people willing to unlock tracks for us, we've got to run those time trials in public areas that are full of pedestrians, bikers who don't know how to use a bike lane instead of a sidewalk, and drivers who pay attention to nothing and no one around them.
Not really the point, but fwiw, tracks are still open in Alaska/were never closed. Of course, they had snow on them all through the end of March and into early April, but it's been all systems go since then.
– source: I live in Anchorage, and have been running intervals on tracks for five weeks
Yeah I figured there were some places with unlocked tracks, but where I live in the Midwest any track that has a gate around it (and I've only heard of one track without a gate ~3 hours from my place) is locked. You need someone to unlock it for you unless you're going to jump the fence and get fined for trespassing when the security camera footage gives you away. Glad people in some places still have tracks to use though.
Maybe you can ask the coach talk with the school admin to allow the track to be open for limited hours once or twice a week for his athletes to use.
4 tracks open in my town.
Grassrunner wrote:
electron1661 wrote:
OP you're wrong. Time trials are one thing but they don't produce PRs. PRs come in high profile races while drafting off lots of people and adrenaline from the crowd.
Tell that to AWEBB
Touche but even Webb's AR had pacers
electron1661 wrote:
Grassrunner wrote:
Tell that to AWEBB
Touche but even Webb's AR had pacers
As can the H.S. kids performing time trial PR attempts.
We didn't even have to ask her lol, she went straight to the school and asked if she could open the track for us as long as we were supervised and we stayed apart. They told her no. My school is one of those ones where the athletic department/administrators only really get involved to help football players. (Our cross country/track tent has broken four times in the past three years because of wind damage, and the athletic department refuses to let us get a new one. Meanwhile, they buy the entire football team two new pairs of cleats every season. Such is life around here.)
Thank you though!
Nice! Hope you enjoy using them!