Japanese 4 x 400 team DESTROYS world record - all of the team members were over the age of 90! (video)

Respect to all for being fit but that anchor was blazing! 6:40 pace is phenomenal, 98% age grade!

Was the lead off runner required to start from blocks in order for this world record to be valid? I don’t understand why else he would he even use them as he didn’t appear to be strong enough and almost fell when he got up out of them

WA rules say all races 400 and under have to be from blocks.

Looking at their anchor leg illustrates how the most important thing is range of motion. Run with the motion of running and you go fast. Run stiff and constricted and you go slow.

I want that anchor on my high school team. What a beast. Would love to see him hawk down a much younger guy in a real race.

These 4 guys will be among the survivors when they have to escape the next tsunami.

RoJo

All the members of an over 90 team were over 90. Stunning.

So I could smoke them in a 1600 all by myself? Nice.

It looks like the record they broke was very soft and, tbh, this relay record may still be soft (the M90 record for the 1500 is a frankly jaw-dropping 7:37.08) but that guy running the anchor leg is a beast. I was actually surprised that he didn't lunge for the finish line to get an extra fraction of a second.

DontFeedTheTroll wrote:

It looks like the record they broke was very soft and, tbh, this relay record may still be soft ....

Yes, I'm sure it will bebroken immediately due to the abundance of 90 year olds averaging 2:12 400 meters.

Nonsense! wrote:

DontFeedTheTroll wrote:

It looks like the record they broke was very soft and, tbh, this relay record may still be soft ....

Yes, I'm sure it will bebroken immediately due to the abundance of 90 year olds averaging 2:12 400 meters.

Well, yeah. That's the problem. Still, it's worth noting that for every age group up to 85, the 1500m record is slower than the 4x400 record (M80, for example. 1500: 6:18, 4x400: 5:32). This falls apart for M85 and up, probably due solely to the difficulty of finding 4 guys of the right age.

DontFeedTheTroll wrote:

Nonsense! wrote:

Yes, I'm sure it will bebroken immediately due to the abundance of 90 year olds averaging 2:12 400 meters.

Well, yeah. That's the problem. Still, it's worth noting that for every age group up to 85, the 1500m record is slower than the 4x400 record (M80, for example. 1500: 6:18, 4x400: 5:32). This falls apart for M85 and up, probably due solely to the difficulty of finding 4 guys of the right age.

I was thinking the exact same thing. It is probably hard getting four 90+ people together for a relay; injuries, illness, etc., is their biggest obstacle. Easier to find one outlier than four.

In any case, fantastic race by the four. Total Respect.

Just think what these guys could have done if they had the 80+ team as a rabbit.

To put the team in perspective, they are survivors of WWII, either as members of the Imperial Japanese Army or Navy or as teenage civilians under bombardment on their homefront.

The record was clearly a result of their carbon-plated, super-midsole racing shoes. :)

I loved watching this. Tons of respect for these guys.

This was awesome. No great insight or witticism other than that, but very awesome. 1:40 anchor dude was legit.

Loved that the first guy used blocks.

Tanaka-san was hammering. Shoulda taken the baton earlier in the zone, though: You want him carrying the stick as long as possible.

Tanaka-san ("Hiroo Tanaka") is a real talent

ran 70. in the 400 in 2011 and decent at lowr distances as well

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YysOe3npq0

STRONK wrote:

Tanaka-san ("Hiroo Tanaka") is a real talent

ran 70. in the 400 in 2011 and decent at lowr distances as well

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YysOe3npq0

"I want to keep running until I am 90". Goal achieved.

Check out his competition from a few years ago:

80 seconds at 85+, and most important, he looked relaxed!