I am so sick of the constant praise of front-running, i.e. parker valby in the ncaa championships. "Going for it" and losing it still just losing and going for it and semi-blowing up is even worse. Why do we praise worse race strategy, I personally think it takes more confidence and courage to sit back and actually compete rather than going out in first and hoping for the best.
In the case of kipchoge he almost always goes out at the pace he has already ran a marathon. What OP is referring to is when people go out at incomprehensible paces for themselves.
In the case of kipchoge he almost always goes out at the pace he has already ran a marathon. What OP is referring to is when people go out at incomprehensible paces for themselves.
Valby didn't go out at an incomprehensible pace. She didn't slow down and negative split even. It was probably her best chance to win. There is nothing wrong with front running as a strategy in general. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn't. Sit and kick doesn't always work either.
In the case of kipchoge he almost always goes out at the pace he has already ran a marathon. What OP is referring to is when people go out at incomprehensible paces for themselves.
Valby didn't go out at an incomprehensible pace. She didn't slow down and negative split even. It was probably her best chance to win. There is nothing wrong with front running as a strategy in general. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn't. Sit and kick doesn't always work either.
I agree that front running is a fine strategy especially if you are one of the fittest athletes and have a better chance by making the winning time something that the other athletes can’t run. That said, I think there is a difference between taking and pushing the pace and going completely off the front to run alone. I think it becomes mentally easier to run away but is physically more challenging and leads to worse results
I personally think it takes more confidence and courage to sit back and actually compete rather than going out in first and hoping for the best.
Watch most 1500s. A dozen guys jog around waiting to outkick everyone else on the last lap. This doesn't indicate that they're confident or brave. For the majority, it indicates that they're dumb.
Front running absolutely works if you're the best runner in the field. There are plenty of examples where a runner goes hard from the beginning, takes the lead and never looks back. Both Ritz and Ryan Hall have successfully pulled it off in XC.
It is stupid though to suggest that getting up front is the key to success for a lesser talent.
Personally, I prefer an approach that eschews both front-running and sit and kick strategies in favor of consistently finishing in 5th or 6th place. I'm also a blue-collar runner, with rugged good looks, so I at least have the respect of my peers.
Agree with the OPs point, but also think Valby isn't the best example. She ran a good race, but just couldn't hang on long enough against a better runner. But it wasn't an "underperformance," except maybe for the lack of running tangents, which may have added up to enough distance she may not have been passed.
A much better example is Daniel do Nascimento from NYC marathon, where he went out at an irrational pace in difficult conditions and ended up on the pavement writhing in pain, getting passed by a better runner, with a better race strategy, Chebet. A great example of aggressive front-running gone bad.