Best Strategy for Men in 1500 who do not have the OG A?

go for it in the finals. if you run the a standard at the trials you're likely to be in the top 3. If you run it in the heats your likely to burn the kick out of you in the finals.

I think it would be great if someone just threw himself on the fire for his friends, and rabbited a first round race.

Maybe he could auction his services on ebay to his heat mates.

It ain't gonna happen. But I sure would like to see someone try.

maybe if it is 65 degrees on the day of a heat and projected to be 85 on the day of the final, someone like Fernandez or Webb might try it. Webb in particular has been racing a ton, so he is used to repeated tough efforts.

And really - is there a huge difference in muscle damage between a 3:35 and a 3:38? Maybe some, but not huge.

A Duck wrote:

I think it would be great if someone just threw himself on the fire for his friends, and rabbited a first round race.

Maybe he could auction his services on ebay to his heat mates.

Agreed. Someone that doesn't have the A and is far down on the list of best times this year.

stick with eharmony wrote:

go for it in the finals. if you run the a standard at the trials you're likely to be in the top 3. If you run it in the heats your likely to burn the kick out of you in the finals.

Isn't the opposite true as well: It would be hard to run sub-3:35.5 after two rounds?

In any case, this same scenario of runners having to hit the A at the trials is going to be true in almost every running event. Should make for some interesting and fast racing. I think it's likely that some non-OG A runners will think going for it in the heats is the best way and some will think going for it in the finals will be the best way.

The odds are incredibly slim, but if Webb could get the standard in a preliminary round it would lift such an enormous psychological weight, which seems to be exactly what he needs. Three or four of these guys in each heat should team up, trade laps, and try to get it done in the first round.

A Duck wrote:

I think it would be great if someone just threw himself on the fire for his friends, and rabbited a first round race.

Maybe he could auction his services on ebay to his heat mates.

I wonder if that would be legal or if it would violate some kind of Black Sox/Pete Rose-type thing.

That poster who writes the really odd/bad stories on LR should write their race plans for them. None of them would run the standard, but it would be fun to watch everyone engage in all kinds of quirky exaggerated actions.

Somewhere in the middle of the race, Webb would look into Wheating's eyes, wipe his brow once more with the back of his hand, and then shout angrily and walk off the track. Pifer would then softly rub a mole on his neck and begin to cry. Leer would pull his comb from his pocket and begin to comb his hair before dropping the comb to start his kick.

Best strategy would be to get in German's prelim heat and sit-and-kick on his 3:37-paced gun-to-tape effort like he did in NCAA's. Then rest up in the semis and hope for the best in the finals.

Best strategy would be to get it in the first round because you know what will happen in the finals...it will be "I am the world's best kicker" and the hell with the Olympics.

If you're not a top 3 guy and you make it to the final without the A, you're in a pretty hopeless situation. All you can do is go for the A (what else are you there for?) and let the top 3 sit on you. When there are multiple guys who need the A it gets worse, because it takes a little time for the sacrificial lamb to emerge and the pacing gets screwed up. Then you have a garbage race where all the A-chasers lose in a mass kick, neither making the A nor the top 3. IMO the best strategy is to split the tasks up. Go for the A in prelims. It's *the* most important task so give yourself multiple opportunities. Then try to survive to the final, and hope the final is a slow strategic affair.

If you have the B, you could win the final.

We are all talking about how to do it...

Trollist wrote:

If you have the B, you could win the final.

And you would not go to the Olympics. Read the USATF Olympic team selection rules.

You just go to the event and place as high as you can. Hope the pace is fast.

These guys have had a year to get into an ideal situation and produce a fast time.

This is not ideal.

Year after year people go to the US Champs without an A standard and no one almost ever takes the pace out. Don't know why it would be different this time.

Anyone that tries to take it out in the finals will get used by all of the world class runners that will be chasing him.

The only chance is in the prelims and I have never seen it done.

Gabe Jennings in 2000 did take it out in the final, made the team and hit the standard. But he wasn't facing a field like this.

Honestly, anyone without the A standard at this point isn't going to london with the possible exception of McNamara, Webb, and Fernandez?. Everyone else has had plenty of races and aren't going to bust out a 3:35 for top 3 at the trials.

McNamara was soo close to the A and has won some races this year. He is probably a top 5 runner in the US right now. McNamara needs to get lucky with the final and probably push the pace from 800m out if he wants any chance.

Webb just has such good pr's and you just never know with him. I don't know what Webb should do but he could just run from the front and throw down a huge race.

Fernandez seems to keep improving every week so I would love to see him solo a 3:35 in the prelim or run from the front in the final, but still... very unlikely.

It just isn't going to happen but the best chance they all have is to hammer the final from the front and get lucky.

I will add that in the past, you could usually chase the standard after the Trials since the Trials were well before the Games.

This do or die scenario could change the approach.

I can almost guarantee you that the 3 that make the team will come from the current 8 with the A.

hire that poster wrote:

That poster who writes the really odd/bad stories on LR should write their race plans for them. None of them would run the standard, but it would be fun to watch everyone engage in all kinds of quirky exaggerated actions.

Somewhere in the middle of the race, Webb would look into Wheating's eyes, wipe his brow once more with the back of his hand, and then shout angrily and walk off the track. Pifer would then softly rub a mole on his neck and begin to cry. Leer would pull his comb from his pocket and begin to comb his hair before dropping the comb to start his kick.

POD

This is the only way that Webb is going to make the team. Worked pretty well for him in 2004.