Put all the best runners 5000+ on a track. Off they go! Anyone lapped is eliminated. Last man standing wins. Who is it?

Are we talking about all-time runners, or currently in form? To be perfectly honest, I think 1st place lapping 2nd place would take an incredibly long time if you have the top 7-8 guys from 5K/10K, HM and Marathon. Getting over a minute ahead would be exceptionally difficult until all glycogen was gone. I think we could be looking at 3 hours of racing, potentially.

This would be more exciting than any race I've seen since Meb won Boston, which is probably the only time I've yelled at my TV as an adult.

At about 50 laps anyone not still on 2:13 marathon pace will be eliminated at 100 laps only those on sub 2:10 marathon pace will be left and the racing will start. The race will be over by 50 km and one of the sub 2:05 marathoners will win- which one is a crap shoot.

Ben True. Duh

Fun question. I think that one of the top marathoners would run as slowly as was safe for about 22 miles then put the hammer down and eliminate everyone except other top marathoners. Then the race would probably go on well beyond 26 miles as 400 m is a large gap even for the marathon.

Just as a point of reference, taking the IAAF best times from 2015 (10k - 26:51, half - 59:20, marathon - 2:04:42) and assuming even pace, the 10k guy catches the half marathon guy in the 21st lap and the half marathon guy catches the marathoner in the 19th lap. Tactically it wouldn't play out that way, but I'd guess it would be over before marathon distance and the fast half marathon guys would be my pick. On a 200 m track this might even be a spectator friendly event.

Sean Hurd from Western Kentucky University

it's just sad that this thread is 'Hot Right Now'

Mo Farah fartleks alternating 65 sec & 55 sec laps for the first 6 laps and eliminates 97% of the marathoners in a few miles.

Then again, 400m is a long way to gap someone.

Cali4nia wrote:

Mo Farah fartleks alternating 65 sec & 55 sec laps for the first 6 laps and eliminates 97% of the marathoners in a few miles.

Then again, 400m is a long way to gap someone.

Kipchoge rode Farah like a show pony in an indoor two mile in 2012

Now he's the best Marathoner. It's Kipchoge all the way.

Mike Rossi will come out of nowhere to win

Max King or Zach Bitter

Probably King, he has the speed to hit a B Standard

And Max is darn good at the steeple chase so he can jump over other runners that trip and fall over which is bound to happen with 5000 people on the track. LOLZ!

Hypothetically speaking, if the race is fast from the gun, the top guys could run 27' at 10k, meaning a 28:00 or better would needed to be done before getting lapped.

The low 27' guys would seriously start to hurt by 15k, bringing the split to 42:00. Wilson, Kipchoge, Mo, Kimetto, Mutai are still around.

The HM split could be around 59:30, I'd think there be a bit more sitting at this point.

Then, who ever can run 1:28:00 or better would probably win. Kimetto has a ridiculous 25K time, so he would be a top contender. Kipchoge has the speed, Kipsang is always strong, and Mo would have his wheels fall off.

The final distance would probably be around 28-30k at sub 2HR pace. Winner - Kimetto. 2:02:58 + 1:11:18, on his best day I have him over Kipchoge.

luv2run wrote:

In track cycling that is called a miss and out. Pretty fun to watch.

Wouldn't that be the equivalent of walking for 350 meters and sprinting the last 50.

The OP is talking about lapped runners dropping out.

Max King has a 30 minute 10K.

A couple of years ago I might have picked Tsegay Kebede because that guy just does not get dropped, but now Kipchoge is definitely the favorite. Bekele has to be considered. Realistically nobody can front run anything less than a 10k to victory because it's just not long enough of a race. From half marathon onward it's possible to blitz a time and have less than a handful of people left.

chode Kipchoge wrote:

Cali4nia wrote:

Mo Farah fartleks alternating 65 sec & 55 sec laps for the first 6 laps and eliminates 97% of the marathoners in a few miles.

Then again, 400m is a long way to gap someone.

Kipchoge rode Farah like a show pony in an indoor two mile in 2012

Now he's the best Marathoner. It's Kipchoge all the way.

I agree that Kipchoge is the best current runner for the scenario and that he would handily beat Farah.

If all time, I would like to see Tadese do "light" alternating surges through 10K to shake up the marathoners then drop the hammer-- go for broke-- over the next ~5k and hope for an early victory. Problem is that there is no reason to think he could take the piss out of Bekele since this is a hypothetical and we can assume both are fit.

I think the Tadese (half marathon prowess) versus Bekele (10k and XC dominance; 2:05 marathon), or similar types, is the ideal showdown. If these type of runners don't do anything early then the marathoners will comfortably hang then eventually win.

RYAN HALL WOULD BE **FIRST** ONE STANDING (DNF).

Mo Farah. Alberto would alter his drugs accordingly.

andrews would smoke a 47.x 4th lap and knock out all the ultras before they break a sweat.