alanson wrote:
Looks to me like Sum has got Montano's number. I guess I'm joining the chorus urging Alysia to modify her game plan. I'd also say that Ajee got some revenge, except I don't think she has a vengeful bone in her body.
You've gotta be kidding. Other than her unlucky traffic-avoiding gambit, which cost her almost no time at all, she ran exactly the way you idiots always wanted her to. 200 slower than 27, 400 slower than 57, enough energy left at the end to pass people. If she'd gotten by Sum, you'd all be crowing about how it's better to run 57.5 and 61.3 than 56.0 and 61.9. Never mind if the final result is a full second slower.
About drifting wide, in lane 5, for an 84 meter straight the distance is sqrt(4.8^2 + 84^2) = 84.14, a whopping 14 centimeters extra distance. At 6.5 m/s (61 second pace) that's .02 seconds. Very rarely does that decide an 800, and the advantage gained from being in the clear is usually worth it. Or have you forgotten poor Ajee in Moscow already? Too bad she didn't go to lane 5.
But I guess you can't expect marathoners to know how far the break from lane 5 is. Even from the outside of lane 8 it's just an extra half meter. Not even a tenth of a second.
I don't want to be mean about it, but this is grade-school math. Compared even to running on someone's shoulder in a turn, a wide straight is nothing.
Don't make me humiliate you Montano-haters further. This time you should all quickly admit you're wrong and save face.