• Knower of Knowledge
      • Has a lapped runner ever come back to win a race? 3/5/2013 7:00PM
      • Knower of Knowledge
      • I was reading the 1992 10k thread(the race Khalid Skah won) about the questionable tactics employed by the Morrocans,and someone questioned whether it was allowed for a lapped runner to win. Someone said that it was allowed if they could make up the lap.


        So my question is, has there ever been a runner who has been lapped who has come back to win the race? I've never heard of a race like this, but maybe there is one out there that you guys know about?
    • SMJO
      • RE: Has a lapped runner ever come back to win a race? 3/5/2013 7:28PM - in reply to Knower of Knowledge
      • SMJO
      • Tom longboat was lapped multiple times by Alf Shrubb in an indoor Marathon and came back to win.
        I really don't think it would happen in anything under that distance except if a superior runner was feeling really bad in the early going.
        Henry Rono was apparently nearly lapped and came back to win and Seb Coe speaks of being 300m down with two laps to go in a junior 3000m and winning.
    • Did disk
      • RE: Has a lapped runner ever come back to win a race? 3/5/2013 7:29PM - in reply to Knower of Knowledge
      • Did disk
      • I know this is kind of a weak answer, but St. Olaf College in MN hosts an indoor marathon every year. 300m track. Probably has happened there.
    • coachTi
      • RE: Has a lapped runner ever come back to win a race? 3/5/2013 7:37PM - in reply to Did disk
      • coachTi
      • If so...I would guess in a 24 hr run around a track...yes they do exist.
    • Dennis Reynolds
      • RE: Has a lapped runner ever come back to win a race? 3/5/2013 7:38PM - in reply to Knower of Knowledge
      • Dennis Reynolds
      • If marathons were run on the track it would have happened quite bit. Since they aren't I can't think of any.
    • This happened
      • RE: Has a lapped runner ever come back to win a race? 3/5/2013 8:06PM - in reply to Knower of Knowledge
      • This happened
      • In the 1998 penn relays college men's 10k a pair of Africans (one from life college and I don't remember the other one) went out in about 13:40. One of those guys lapped a runner in the race who eventually ended up lapping him!

        So he ended up losing over 800 meters of distance to a guy over roughly the last 5k.

        Only time I've ever in my life seen or heard of this in suck a short race (compared to a marathon on the track).
    • Trackasack
      • RE: Has a lapped runner ever come back to win a race? 3/5/2013 8:06PM - in reply to Knower of Knowledge
      • Trackasack
      • What if a marathon were run on a track and one guy went out too fast and the other guy just hung back and got himself lapped but then he felt better and started to run faster and the guy who was ahead at the beginning got slower at about the same time and the guy who was lapped pulled ahead of the guy who lapped him in a marathon race on the track.
    • UOP
      • RE: Has a lapped runner ever come back to win a race? 3/5/2013 8:29PM - in reply to  
      • UOP
      •   wrote:
        Ever heard of reading other people's replies before posting?
        What? Sorry, I was too busy running a marathon on a track.
    • Tyrannosaurus Rexing
      • RE: Has a lapped runner ever come back to win a race? 3/5/2013 8:32PM - in reply to EastCoaster
      • Tyrannosaurus Rexing
      • EastCoaster wrote:
        Probably could happen if they held a marathon on a track.
        Yeah, good point, but...

        IT'S NEVER HAPPENED NOR *WILL* IT EVER HAPPEN UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES.

        So keep it your pants.
    • yolo!!
      • RE: Has a lapped runner ever come back to win a race? 3/5/2013 8:32PM - in reply to UOP
      • yolo!!
      • I heard it could happen, but only if it were from a marathon on a track. Has anyone else heard this?
    • break it up
      • RE: Has a lapped runner ever come back to win a race? 3/5/2013 8:46PM - in reply to yah yah
      • break it up
      • Rod Dixon in an interview claims he saw Henry Rono get lapped and come back to win a 10,000 in 27:40.

        Rono stories tend to become embellished over time. For years it was legend he ran a 13:12 5000 half drunk after drinking a pint of booze on the bus ride to the track but Rono denies that happened.