Who was the most tactically sound distance runner ever?

Borzakovskiy is tactically superior in many races he runs. It is almost universally accepted that even splitting will lead to the fastest times, and he has the balls to do it when everyone else goes out fast and he often eats them up at the end. How is that a bad tactic? It may not always work, but neither does front running, or sitting just off the leader and kicking past.

Don't laugh, but...what about Rich Kenah? Guy won World Championships bronzes in the 800 indoors and outdoors and he was surely the slowest 400-meter runner in the field ...he ran the races the way he needed to to medal.

I think logic would dictate looking at championship results so the obvious candidates are: Zatopek, Viren and Geb.

Zatopek's astounding medal count makes him the favorite especially given his tactics to win the marathon (a race he had never run before). Of course, Emil revolutionized training and was simply 10 years ahead of his competition. Viren peaked at the right time and had superb tactics but he raced so infrequently that it is hard to place him (or Emil) alongside Geb given Geb's tremendous record. But like Emil, Geb was so ahead of his time that his tactic was simply to run away from everybody and his epic 10k struggles with Tergat were not exactly tactical masterpieces as much as triumphs of the will.

On an American note, I think that Pre's blunder in 1972 overshadows a career filled with very fine tactical racing. I also think that Craig Virgen is underrated.

Finally, I am not sure whether Herb Elliot's undefeated mile career was a result of his tremendous talent (coupled with Cerutty's hardened ways) or a product of great tactical racing. Maybe some of the aussies can chime in.

broza wrote:

Borzakovskiy is tactically superior in many races he runs. It is almost universally accepted that even splitting will lead to the fastest times, and he has the balls to do it when everyone else goes out fast and he often eats them up at the end. How is that a bad tactic? It may not always work, but neither does front running, or sitting just off the leader and kicking past.

Even-splitting is generally not the best way to run fast times in the 800. In other distances maybe, but not the 800

case.in.point wrote:

Case in point:

Wilson Kipketer in 2000 800m olys.

Bekele in 2004 5000m olys.

Kipchoge in 2007 5000m WCs (sorry kip, you are not going to out-sprint a 3:26 miler in the last 200m of any race.)

Borzacovsky (sp?) in pretty much every race he runs.

kipketer doesnt have any tactics, because his race is only 800meters long. its a sprint and takes no mentallity or strategy.

bekele just has more natural talent than any other distant TRACK runner. this is why he wins, its not because of his tactics.

kipchoge has good tactics, but i think in his situation it comes down to experience. he's a little bit older than the other competitors and naturally smarter due to having already been throught the "school of hark knock" which i have stated several times on this website that experience is the best teacher.

not going to comment on borzacovsky.

if you want to know the answer, the answer is Paul Tergat. he has better tactics than any other runner, and he also has more natural ability and toughness. this is why he is and always will be the world record holder for the marathon. oh, and may i add, he held the world record for 10k longer than any other human being.

Lasse Viren.

Sea level born Tunisian, Gammoudi outwitting the two altitude trained Kenyans, Keino and Temu, in the 5000 at altitude in the 1968 Mexico Olympics.

14.05.1 - 14.05.16 - 14.06.41.

How many Olympic titles does Tergat have, 430?

Seems to me like Geb always had his number on the track.

the430miler wrote:

[quote]case.in.point wrote:

if you want to know the answer, the answer is Paul Tergat. he has better tactics than any other runner, and he also has more natural ability and toughness. this is why he is and always will be the world record holder for the marathon. oh, and may i add, he held the world record for 10k longer than any other human being.

Tergat held the world record for 10K 22/8/97 - 1/16/98 when guess who broke it - his nemesis Geb. You really must be as poor academically as you are on the track.

Nuurmi held the WR for 10k from 31/8/24 - 18/7/37

More recently Ron Clarke held it for over 7 years, Rono and Geb 6 years and suprisingly Mamede for 5 years.

the430miler wrote:

if you want to know the answer, the answer is Paul Tergat. he has better tactics than any other runner, and he also has more natural ability and toughness. this is why he is and always will be the world record holder for the marathon. oh, and may i add, he held the world record for 10k longer than any other human being.

Longer than any other human being= 10 months??

Lasse Viren and Geb were both masters. Bekele has shown great tactics at times, and poor other times. Seb Coe was a great tactical racer over 1500 meters, but had problems at the 800. You've got to imagine Aouita was a brilliant racer to be successful in championship type races from 800 to 5,000 meters, although I don't know this for sure, not having watched enough footage of him racing. Geb is the best to me. So many titles. He's the master.

case.in.point wrote:

Case in point:

Kipchoge in 2007 5000m WCs (sorry kip, you are not going to out-sprint a 3:26 miler in the last 200m of any race.)

This is a joke, right? Do you remember the 2003 World Championships? (Admittedly, that was a faster-paced race, but Kipchoge still out-kicked El Guerrouj.)

Wottle

ALAN WEBB!!!!

Not quite even splitting, but ideally the first lap is around 101-102% of pace and the second lap is 98-99% of pace. Huge positive splits are most certainly NOT the way to go. And actually, if you watch most of Borza's races, he slightly positives, once again, running the ideal race.

Dieter Baumann

even splits are more important in the 800 than you could ever imagine kid

Henry Marsh, Joan Benoit.

If you ask rojo, Nick Willis is a tactical genius.

And borzakowski is borderline retarted. too much welding in the off season for that guy.

cmurph dont know wrote:

even splits are more important in the 800 than you could ever imagine kid

every 800 wr i can think of was set with positive splits