That Was Awesome 9:15.50 World Record for Team USA in DMR After Rotich Went Out in 52 on Anchor Leg

Splits for Blankenship?

The Kenyan 800 leg also took it out hard, possibly sub-48!?

Cheruiyot. Rotich ran the 800

Blankenship had to be close to sub 3:50 there.

dee em arrrrrrr wrote:

Splits for Blankenship?

The Kenyan 800 leg also took it out hard, possibly sub-48!?

Blankenship

55.3

59.3

59.9

56.8

Kenyan anchor

51.96

58.65

62.19

59.95

US splits:

Merber 2:53.56

Spratling 45.95

Johnson 1:44.75

Blankenship 3:51.24

Read more:

http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=6479467&page=4#ixzz3Z81jxZ3P

2400m 5:24.26

2800m 6:19.53 55.27

3200m 7:18.80 59.27

3600m 8:18.70 59.90

4000m 9:15.50 56.80

3:51.24

meters

Yes we are aware. No one said otherwise.

Team USA Post-Race comments with video:

US team was pumped.

Talked to US coach Vin Lananna. He said he let the 4x800 guys pick which race they wanted to run. All 4 guys yesterday chose 4x800 so that left Brandon for 4x800 and he ran great today.

Ben Blankenship said he thought he might get the baton in the lead so he had worked out hand signals with Coach Lananna. That helped him today when he was behind as he just wanted to make sure he was on pace.

Kyle Merber told the guys before hand a world record was a possibility and being the Ivy Leaguer had all the splits worked out. He said when he hit 800 in 2:00, he thought he'd be behind pace but he closed like a maniac. He said Vin told him not to hand off in the lead unless it was a big lead which was interesting. Merber joked this was the US "d" team. They are now the world record holders.

Ben Blankenship on anchoring US to gold:

https://youtu.be/TdsX4rs8Cq

Kyle Merber talks about US 'd' team (a joke) setting world record:

https://youtu.be/PZDkIT0KUYQ

Kyle Merber, Brycen Spratling, and Brandon Johnson react to WR:

https://youtu.be/oDq844s4HY4

Ryan Gregson of Australia on leading off in 1st:

https://youtu.be/kMlc75JQGg

I tried to ask Ferguson Rotich about going out in 51 at the press conference. I'm not sure he understood the question or how great his English is, but he said he was trying to do his best.

Rotich didn't run smart, he did however hang in longer than any human had a right to, and in that ran studly and warrior like.

This stuff is superior serious in his country.

And as it turns out, was also meaningful for Team USA, World Police...er, you know what I mean...

What a FUN weekend of track field.

Enjoy The Sport!

--Hell as frozen over, as I'm given Kudos and Thanks to LRC for doing a GREAT job on Previews and Post Race Analysis, and really adding to the enjoyment of World Relays mark 2.

This has the potential to become a really exciting event.

Get some computerize drones to film in front of the runners, lol, and it could be thrilling in HD.

For me, this was the best of what LRC can be. Enhancing enjoyment of the sport, and not trashing the individual athletes, critique the strategy etc., cheer for all the runners.

This, to me, is the hardest sport of all, because it is all on you, your effort, and a little thing called genetics.

Kenya's 800m leg went out in 47.84. Some better pacing by their last two legs and you've got to think they would have taken it home. But props to Blankenship for a great anchor leg.

http://www.iaaf.org/competitions/iaaf-world-relays/iaafbtc-world-relays-bahamas-2015-5676/results/men/distance-medley-relay/final/split

wejo wrote:

What a race.

US, Australia and Kenya got the anchor together and then Ferguson Rotich took it out in 52 seconds. Ben Blankenship ran smart, overtook Rotich on the last lap, and somehow Rotich managed to stay close but this was one was all USA and they were rewarded with the 9:15.50 WR (old record 9:15.56!)

I agree that was awesome.

Now can you still say with a straight face that the Penn 4 x mile was exciting?

People running hard and pushing the pace is exciting. People trying to break other people by going out hard is exciting. World records are exciting

Jog fests and coming to a halt in a relay are not exciting. Slow times are not exciting.

Exactly what I thought. Races where guys are really going for it are what this sport is all about. I'd love to see this more often.

The Waterboy wrote:

Now can you still say with a straight face that the Penn 4 x mile was exciting?

People running hard and pushing the pace is exciting. People trying to break other people by going out hard is exciting. World records are exciting

Jog fests and coming to a halt in a relay are not exciting. Slow times are not exciting.

Yes, the Penn 4xmile was exciting. Yes the World Relays DMR was exciting too. To me anyway, it isn't all about fast times. Records are nice, but real racing is what's exciting. Real racing can happen in a fast or slow race.

I disagree 100%. The 4xmile was exciting until the final leg. It became exciting again with 200m left. This race was exciting start finish as a REAL RACE should be. I understand the sit-and-kick tactic in conference meets and even possibly NCAA's where place has a bearing on whether or not a school brings home a trophy, but, in a race where a possible record is up for grabs? No no my friends, the penn 4xmile essentially became a 200m race amongst milers. This DMR, albeit erratic at times, demonstrated what real tactics, strategy and racing is all about. Watch both races, and see which was actually a race, and which was a glorified all-out 200m sprint.

Quick Take #1: This Was an Awesome Race – ie Races are more interesting when runners go out crazy fast

Lol and you guys acted like Chez and the Penn 4xmile was the end all be all of exciting racing. That coming to a straight walk to sprint the final 200 is the best way to race.

Anbessa wrote:

I disagree 100%. The 4xmile was exciting until the final leg. It became exciting again with 200m left. This race was exciting start finish as a REAL RACE should be. I understand the sit-and-kick tactic in conference meets and even possibly NCAA's where place has a bearing on whether or not a school brings home a trophy, but, in a race where a possible record is up for grabs? No no my friends, the penn 4xmile essentially became a 200m race amongst milers. This DMR, albeit erratic at times, demonstrated what real tactics, strategy and racing is all about. Watch both races, and see which was actually a race, and which was a glorified all-out 200m sprint.

I really enjoyed both WR DMR & Penn 4xMile. Disagree that World Relay DMR demonstrated what "real" tactics/strategy/racing is all about. I think an objective viewer would say bad tactics/strategy were in evidence at both races. Especially if you were a Kenyan fan, not sure you'd have the same appreciation for the tactics/strategy of your team (do you really think the anchor for the Kenyan team used good tactics/strategy??).

At Penn Ches with a slight lead at the time slowed down pace way too much on last leg and lost. At Worlds Cheruiyot who was slightly behind at start of last leg sped pace up way too much and lost. Both races had great surprise, suspense and drama as spectators wondered what would happen - would Ches be able to outkick others at end after he (and everyone else) slowed way down vs. would Timothy Cheruiyot be able to sustain pace/finish in lead after taking it out so hard (after others did not follow).

I think posts comparing Penn vs. World Relays on the DMR are more about who was the perceived favorite and who a "given spectator" wanted to win. Kenya (like Oregon) was the perceived favorite (per LRC race preview and polling, though neither was definitive) and both lost. To me both races were very compelling and the anchor for the runner-up teams both probably learned an even more compelling lesson about tactics/strategy.

He probably didn't understand because he went out in 47 high on his 800m leg. I like you Weldon, but if you really asked the wrong guy, that's pretty sad.

The argument is just that, objective. However, I'm more likely to call a kenyan going out in 52 to try and run away from his competition for the win a real tactic/strategy (Again, maybe pacing wasn't perfect, but the idea) vs. Ches slowing down to 75 so he can kick with 200m left...

Your comparing 2 totally different situations as well. Ches slowed down to win as easily as possible, Cheruiyot sped up to win out of NECESSITY, and perhaps tactically run away from the race. Was it a bad tactic? He Ran 3:52 and lost, as compared to Ches (3:56miler) who ran a 4:15. Sure, you can make the argument that Ches was just running a "tactical" race as well, the difference? One race produced a World Record, while another produced a 25sec final 200m.

You can argue that both were equally exciting, and I'm sure to some, they were, but, I guess I'm tired of athletes plodding along because they don't feel like racing the entire distance, sprint for 30 seconds, and call it race effort.

Go out and run a 3:25 1200m and then sprint all out, i'm sure a decent amount of athletes would run the total 1600m in 4:20 or better. Now go out and run a 52 400m and continue on, I assure you not many will go on to run a 3:52.