el gerrouj and sub 3.40

I don't think so. He ran a lot of 1500s and mile races, and never even came close to a 3:39 mile. That said, he was a phenomenal runner and we'd do a lot to realize just how special 3:26/3:43 are.

Um, no. He ran plenty of rabbited 1500m and never could surpass his 3:26.0. (3:40y = ~3:23)

i don't know. watch that last 800m...i really think he could have done it.....unfortunately, we will never know....

I can't agree with this completely. While I'm not sure if sub-3:40 was possible for El G, he probably could've run 3:41 at least. I think that 3:24.00 is close to a 3:39.99 mile for El G, and I think he could've probably run at least a second faster than 2:26.00, if not more, if he had truly gone after the record more often. I mean, he went for it, but I don't think El G was a huge fan of pain (not to disrespect him at all), and I think once he had the WR, he was pretty content. But, I could be wrong on this last statement.

Also, El Guerrouj didn't close that race in 1:47. It was more like 1:54. He was at 54 for 400 and about 1:38 at 700 metres.

The OP meant the 2004 OG 1500m final, where El Guerrouj ran the last 700m in 1:34, which is a pace for 1:46 800m.

Check your math.

that's impressive...he took over with 800 to go ans just strung everyone out completely. wow.

yeah, that's what i was talking about. what if he had done a "jim ryun" and just taken a mile race from the gun and put the hammer down like that? notice lagat with the lead at 50m to go as well....

El Guerouj ran plenty of well rabbited races. In the hypothetical perfect race he might have gone low 3:42 or maybe high 3:41. So far the only person I have ever seen who might have had a slim chance at sub 3:40 was Noah Ngeny had he reached the peak of his career.

Intermediate Times:

400m: Isaac Kiprono Songok KEN 1:00.42

800m: Hicham El Guerrouj MAR 2:01.93(61.51)

1200m: Hicham El Guerrouj MAR 2:55.21(53.28)

1500m: Hicham El Guerrouj MAR 3:34.18(38.97)

Unofficial Final 400m Split: 51.91

Unofficial Final 800m Split: 1:46.8

Unofficial 100m Splits for leader, from British statistician Mark Butler

100m - 13.2

200m - 15.0

300m - 16.6

400m - 15.7

500m - 16.1

600m - 15.6

700m - 15.4

800m - 14.4

900m - 13.7

1000m - 13.4

1100m - 13.3

1200m - 12.9

1300m - 12.8

1400m - 12.7

1500m - 13.4

Lagat also closed in 1:46-1:47 in Athens and also ran 3:26 low for a PR.

Both seemed to fully reach their potential.

I agree the the big unknown is Ngeny when it comes to 3:40 mile potential.

How far behind El G would Roger Bannister have been if they raced over the mile and both ran their mile prs?

I dont think so wrote:

El Guerouj ran plenty of well rabbited races. In the hypothetical perfect race he might have gone low 3:42 or maybe high 3:41. So far the only person I have ever seen who might have had a slim chance at sub 3:40 was Noah Ngeny had he reached the peak of his career.

That doesn't make any sense. El Guerrouj beats Ngeny essentially 9 times out of 10, including when they both PR'd in the mile, and yet Ngeny and not El Guerrouj is the only guy you've seen who might have been able to go sub-3:40? Ludicrous.

Frankly, I don't think either could have gone sub-3:40 for the mile. They both had PLENTY of fast, rabbited opportunities. 3:43 was a breakthrough in the evolution of the mile record, and 3:40 is aeons from that.

somehomodude wrote:

I can't agree with this completely. While I'm not sure if sub-3:40 was possible for El G, he probably could've run 3:41 at least. I think that 3:24.00 is close to a 3:39.99 mile for El G, and I think he could've probably run at least a second faster than 2:26.00, if not more, if he had truly gone after the record more often. I mean, he went for it, but I don't think El G was a huge fan of pain (not to disrespect him at all), and I think once he had the WR, he was pretty content. But, I could be wrong on this last statement.

To suggest one of the best middle distance runners in history wasn't willing to take on pain is totally ridiculus. Middle distance IS pain.

Separately, it's generally understood that the 1500 to mile conversion is +17 seconds for top runners. Probably more like +20 seconds for high schoolers. So considering the 1500 was attempted much more frequently and is likely the better of the two records, adding 17 seconds to get 3:43 tells us he couldn't have gone much faster for the mile. Not that he needed to garner our respect...3:43 is sick!

I don't think that record is moving anywhere for a while, and I don't think it's going to get much faster than it is now. Maybe a second or two over the next 100 years.

By the way, El G's 1500 WR is sub-55 400 pace. That's disgusting.

I think El G could have gone 3:34 for the mile. If a rabbit had taken him out in 1:47., and he just got to cruising like at the end of the race in Sydney, I see no reason why he couldn't have posted even splits.

God, people on this message board are idiots.

This is crazy...considering 1:47 won the 2007 NCAA 800 meters! and 1:47 won the WC 800. Granted it was a slow year for the 800 at both meets but still...Also take in to account 1:49 qualified you for the NCAA DI meet.

When I tell non-track people how good El G and Lagat and Olympic runners are..this is the comparison I use.