Is the 800M a sprint?

It requires both sprint and distance elements.

For instance, the following is Will Sumner training according to Will himself:

Will: In terms of mileage, I’d say I graduallybuilt up from my first fall week until the lastweek of training, before indoors started. Ikind of go up a little bit and then plateau, andthen go up a little bit and plateauonly by three miles every, two or three weeks.I started at four or five miles in the first week, and then built up to about 18 by thefirst meet. After that I kind of just stoppedcounting my miles because I didn’t really runas much after that. In terms of a weeklyworkout schedule, basically we’ll do some short speed work on Mondays, usually it’s likeforties and eighties and stuff like that,working on just speed, turnover, things likethat. Tuesday I usually do my aerobic work,so I’ll go with the distance guys, justrun tempos or VO2max workouts.Wednesday, typically I’ll go with the sprintgroup and either do a workout with them orjust like their drills. Thursdays off. Friday is usually the hardest workout of the week, soI’ll do either an 800m workout, a mileworkout, or a 400m workout. Saturday ismy long run, but like I said, the longest I everran was six miles and mostly I’m only doinglike three or four miles.

So, if Will were just training as an all out sprinter (400 and below) he wouldn’t be doing a long run or VO2 max stuff.

Yes, but obviously I never said that you should never train endurance and aerobic capacity to train for 800M. That is still vital. I just don't feel as though the 800m really requires so much aerobic/endurance training that it can be considered a "distance" or even mid-distance category.

At the end of the day, you're sprinting two laps, and at the end are holding onto whatever you have left for dear life, as you would in the 400M

Distance runners have an odd definition of sprinting. Up to 200 is sprinting but it stops there. 400 and 800 are each their own thing. I don't know what word to use for them but sprinting isn't it.

How about “long sprints”

It's like holding your arm over an open flame.

A controlled burn.

Speed is essential.

It would be hard to call a race where the contestants don’t start out of blocks a sprint.

Seems more like a paced sprint

When the coach says.....ok sprinters and hurdlers over there. You'll never see 800m cats with them.

A whole other kind of training than what we see with the sprinters.

Never said they could be trained the same. Should go without saying you should train the 100/200, 200/400, 400/800 categories all separately. You simply cannot train them all the same.

Although, coaches who say stuff like that are probably the same highschool coaches that pretend the 800M is a distance cross country event

The 800 is a long sprint which tests your lactate tolerance

800m runners are their own runners. The 400m runners would be better off with the sprint group while the 1500m runner would be better off with the distance group. There is no combo that makes up a good 800m runner because the 800 is a hybrid event that leans toward speed endurance rather than speed or endurance itself.

Would most 800 runners be better if they moved down to 100 or up to marathon? The answers are clear 400 down and 1500 up, but I'm not sure what it usually is for 800. Hasan moved up to marathon extremely successfully, but is she the exception?

At the high school level at least, it seems like it is best for 800 runners to be with the distance group regardless of whether they are 400/800 or 800/1500 because from what i have seen, a lot of the high school sprint coaches don’t know or understand threshold, VO2 max, mile workouts etc…and you still need to incorporate that into the training but on the flip side, distance coaches have some understanding of speed, whether its 30 meter flys or 150s or 300s. Granted, that is my personal experience and i could be wrong. If so, i stand corrected.

I do not consider the 800 a "sprint" because I use the textbook definition of "sprint" here.

To 'sprint' means to run "at full speed." In my mind that means maximum effort from the gun. 800 meter runners don't do that. They pace 400-600 yards before they put out maximum effort. It isn't their fault that they are really fast and can "pace" at speeds most of us can't even "sprint" at.

To me the only the 100 and 200 are actually sprints. Where you are running as hard as you literally can from the gun. 400 is close... but guys still pace just a bit... simply because people can only maintain maximum speed for about 250 meters running all out.

You don't sprint for 1:40 - 2 mins.

Xai ricks is a 4 and 8 type but never trains with the 1600/3200m guys. You need the basic 400 speed and the endurance to run a good 800. But the 800 leans toward the speed side

He ran a couple XC races the fall before the track season he ran 1:49. He didn't do it the following year though (for some reason) and he got injured but was able to come back with 46.7 to win the CIF state title

Really curious how Georgia is going to handle him. Wonder if they'll track to train him like Sumner

you kinda do tho

Now this I can agree with. The 400M is as much of a "sprint" as the 800M is.

The 100/200 are separate because those are the only events where you are truly sprinting right from the gun, little to no pacing involved. You can't even do that in 400M or you will shut down

Conversely, the thing about 400-800 races are that it is vital to go out very aggressively or have a quick speedy start as that can easily make up the remainder of your race. For example, to run fast 400m you must go out in a fast 200m; to run a fast 800m, you need a fast opening 400m

So, in a sense, both races are like a mix of sprinting and reserving endurance for the homestretch