Official Athlete Special 800m Prediction Contest

1:50 I think

>1:50

TMADDDHASFNE wrote:

First race as an almost Brooks's Beast on March 6th in Cali. Can we Expect Great Things?

According to his Georgetown profile page his PR for 800m is 1:49.12. Might have run faster since then?

Anyway, I'll go out on a limb and say he's better trained with the Beasts despite the Covid setback and will run. 1:47:00. Maybe, I'm overly optimistic!

Hoping all the Beast's to do well since they seem to be a likable bunch, although maybe not quite in the freak talent range of the Bowerman folks.

The winner of this contest can look forward to a shoutout from Spencer on his Vlog, maybe…maybe not.

If he runs 1:47 I’ll eat my shorts.

I’m going with 1:51, MAYBE 1:50.

TMADDDHASFNE wrote:

First race as an almost Brooks's Beast on March 6th in Cali. Can we Expect Great Things?

According to his Georgetown profile page his PR for 800m is 1:49.12. Might have run faster since then?

Anyway, I'll go out on a limb and say he's better trained with the Beasts despite the Covid setback and will run. 1:47:00. Maybe, I'm overly optimistic!

Hoping all the Beast's to do well since they seem to be a likable bunch, although maybe not quite in the freak talent range of the Bowerman folks.

The winner of this contest can look forward to a shoutout from Spencer on his Vlog, maybe…maybe not.

How does months of tempos and mile repeats prepare him for an 800?

1:50.3

1:48 high

1:57.2 or DNS or DNF

1:48.5

1:51 - 1:52

If he hasn’t been injured a week ago I’d say 1:48.5. Now that he’s taken a week off just before his debut race, I’ll give him a 1:51.

I'm really rooting for the guy, but that tuneup workout wasn't confidence inspiring.

I ran equivalent tuneup workouts when I was in 1:52-1:54 shape so giving him some benefit of the doubt my guess is 1:51.1.

Hope all the pieces start coming together later this season!

pehis wrote:

If he hasn’t been injured a week ago I’d say 1:48.5. Now that he’s taken a week off just before his debut race, I’ll give him a 1:51.

This. He took over a week off and it will affect him more than most people think.

1:53

jamin wrote:

1:53

Ok this is the official prediction.

1:51.52

There will be 3 different excuses including the minor injury setback and some wind.

He will continue to run mile repeats and 5 mile tempos and never run 1:48 again.

The guy is not an 800m guy. He is a 1500/5k guy with speed who mistakes that speed for 800m potential.

He is like me--a skinny :49 400m white boy. He ran probably twice as much as I did in college, and he was :02 faster in the 800, :10 in the mile, and 2:00 in the 10k. He's me with incredible cardio. He should have moved up. Heck, he already trains like he moved up!

height, vertical jump, etc wrote:

1:51.52

There will be 3 different excuses including the minor injury setback and some wind.

He will continue to run mile repeats and 5 mile tempos and never run 1:48 again.

The guy is not an 800m guy. He is a 1500/5k guy with speed who mistakes that speed for 800m potential.

He is like me--a skinny :49 400m white boy. He ran probably twice as much as I did in college, and he was :02 faster in the 800, :10 in the mile, and 2:00 in the 10k. He's me with incredible cardio. He should have moved up. Heck, he already trains like he moved up!

I agree with this. However, I do think he was planning on doing the mile before the injury. I think the thought process is that maybe he can still pull together a faster 800m time considering the fact that he’s probably lost a tad of aerobic fitness.

His build doesn’t strike me as an 800/1500 guy, he seems more so like a 3k/5k guy that has the potential to have phenomenal closing speed.

My bet is still sub 1:50 tho. Let’s go 1:49.5

High Fidelity wrote:

How does months of tempos and mile repeats prepare him for an 800?

EXACTLY

Curious how Mackey can look at Spencer, look at his opponents, look back at Spencer, and say 'yep, this guy needs more tempo runs'.

I understand the idea of 'training the athlete, not the event' but my goodness. Dude clearly never hits the gym, and would get absolutely smoked in a 200m or 400m by every guy he's going to race on Saturday.

height, vertical jump, etc wrote:

High Fidelity wrote:

How does months of tempos and mile repeats prepare him for an 800?

EXACTLY

Curious how Mackey can look at Spencer, look at his opponents, look back at Spencer, and say 'yep, this guy needs more tempo runs'.

I understand the idea of 'training the athlete, not the event' but my goodness. Dude clearly never hits the gym, and would get absolutely smoked in a 200m or 400m by every guy he's going to race on Saturday.

It’s early March, Mackey is focused on peaking his athletes for the trials, not this. Spence is training with the 1500m group.

CopperRunner is spot on, 1.49.5 sounds about right.

Given the injury and covid illness prior i think hes probably about a second behind his PR. Would guess 1:50.4

I hope at some point he tries out some 3k races given his build and potential for good closing speeds.