How Much Cash Would It Take to Get a Sub 12:55 Race?

And the women are wildly inconsistent and no one seems able to serve the ball. How can you be a professional tennis player and you can't consistently serve the ball?! It is "mind-bottling."

Kejelcha ran 12:53 last year at the end, I think. But why do these guys in race after race just let the pacers go as they did in Oslo? They have got to have some time bonuses there, right? Is it just that they figure that the others will draft off of them and that the pacers, if the pace is fast unlike in Oslo, will leave them to fend for themselves by 3k? It is the only event where they never go with the pacers any more. Very frustrating to watch. Even in the 1500m/mile, sometimes Kiprop will go with the pacers. Why the others didn't stick behind Kiprop with what would have been for them about 56/1:54, I do not know--especially Willis, who said he wanted to break Walker's time.

Not cash, epo.

How much epo would it take?

Because that's why there are no crazy fast times anymore.

Really? What other 'guys like Farah' was her referring to? Name on please.

I wonder what this statement, part of the same post, refers to then?

How much does it cost to bribe a wada official ?

Um Galen Rupp? Hurry up and then and get this post deleted too? Kamwaror is going to roll Mo Farah,just like he did at the World Half Champs.

wejo wrote:

I'm amazed at how slow all the 5000m go these days.

How much cash do you think it would take to get a sub 12:55.

Weldon, I haven't read the thread and don't have much to add except to say that posts and thoughts like this are what has kept me here for close to 15 years, among other things (like probably needing a life :)

If you pulled this off, LRC would blow up (in a good way). I believe it would be worth every cent of the prize money - most of which you should be able to get sponsors to provide/chip in. I was a RD for a number of years, and am confident you could pull in a substantial amount of prize money for such a spectacle. The only issue I see is whether the runners would be allowed by their own sponsors to enter such an event.

Best of luck. Again, awesome idea and one that I only see positive outcomes from, particularly for the LRC brand.

Money, Drugs and Fast Times...which came first

Will the cash guarantee a return to fast times or do the drugs and the fast times need to precede the cash

Renato and others say that the rabbits and $$$$ produced the fast times on the track in the 90s

Right now we have the rabbits but either the $$$$ or the dope are needed to produce the fast times .Where there's money there's drugs and vice versa

Metric Miler wrote:

Really? What other 'guys like Farah' was her referring to? Name on please.

I wonder what this statement, part of the same post, refers to then?

I don't fault him for doing it in championships but he does it in every single race he runs, from DL races, to small/local meets and everything in between.

He's the definition of why the sport is dying an embarrassing death.

You really can't admit it can you?

He didn't refer to anyone else by name, and he didn't need to either. By writing "guys LIKE Mo Farah" he doesn't put the blame on Mo Farah, but on runners like Mo Farah and others who doesn't give it their all until the end of races. Rather focusing on kicking than running a fast time. This is clear in his comment.

"I don't fault him for doing it in championships but he does it in every single race he runs, from DL races, to small/local meets and everything in between.

He's the definition of why the sport is dying an embarrassing death."

This is nothing different. Mo Farah is the spearhead of the guys doing this, simply because hes so successful doing it and basically only run for the victory. He still doesn't give Mo Farah all the blame. Like mentioned: guys LIKE Mo Farah.

Please. Mo Farah might run TWO non-championship 5ks a year. What prevents runners in all the other pro 5ks a year from running fast? Fear of a non-starting Farah?

Other options wrote:

malmo wrote:

You think it's just a matter of cash?

Yea, look at the marathon. Why don't you provide an explanation for your answer?

You need ideal weather, a nice track, athletes must be in peak form and feeling sharp, recovered, not jet lagged... I bet almost all the money would go toward covering travel/lodging/venue/opportunity cost. After that you don't need much cash incentive to run fast.

The word 'he' clearly refers to Mo Farah. I am sure the poster will tell you that himself. If this were a court then there would be no way of pretending that 'he' when used after a sentence highlighting the male individual that is Mohammed Farah by name, does not refer to the aforementioned individual.

This is what I was replying to with my sarcastic post that you seem to have taken to heart. Mo Farah is not the reason the sport is dying and he does not run slowly in 'every single race he runs'. I provided examples of the latter.

You are nit-picking over unbelievably tiny details. There is no way that poster was not referring to Mo Farah when using the third person singular pronoun 'he'. Anyone of reasonable reading ability can see that.

Yeah Miler I'm not sure what your deal is here or if you're simply trolling. It's pretty obvious I was using Mo Farah as an example of what the state of track distance running has become because as a multiple time Olympic and WC gold medalist he is the most high profile (and probably worst) offender of sitting and kicking.

Obviously he's not the sole reason for sit and kick races but he is the epitome of it and represents the fact that sitting and kicking is all that track distance running has become since he is currently the most prominent track distance runner on the planet.

losing interest wrote:

Perhaps they should provide lap for lap premiums for each and every runner who hits the required cumulative lap time. The premiums then increase throughout the race. This might motivate guys to go out fast and stay fast throughout the race.

^ this is the correct answer. it's a strategy employed effectively in american criterium bicycle races. these are races held on a short circuit of maybe ~0.5 miles. to keep racers from slowing and racing tactically, the organizer will occasionally, at random, ring a bell and announce a "prime" (pronounced "preem"). whoever crosses the start/finish first after the bell wins a prize. sometimes a few riders go off the front, chasing the prize. sometimes they get a big enough gap that they keep digging, trying to stay off the front. it's a good strategy to clean up on more primes. sometimes a rider can win more in primes than he could by winning the race outright.

why not run 5000m/10000m this way? maybe have four or five $15k primes?

$5k primes, i mean. no reason to get crazy.

i think this would make for a faster race -- plus, it'd still be tactical. there'd be more things for the runners to consider in their tactics, though.

No troll, simply some idiot tried to tell me that the following text was not about Mo Farah:

He is the epitome of what's awful with T&F now. A multi gold Olympic and World Champion who has refused for years to ever attempt to run fast (save for a 1500 when he got dragged to the time by Kiprop) instead preferring to sit in kick in ALL races. This is the key here - I don't fault him for doing it in championships but he does it in every single race he runs, from DL races, to small/local meets and everything in between.

He's the definition of why the sport is dying an embarrassing death.

I simply disagreed with your statements that (a) Farah is the reason track and field is dying and (b) that Farah only ever runs slowly. I provided examples of the latter and will add in his 7:32 3k which was a pretty decent solo effort.

wejo wrote:

I'm amazed at how slow all the 5000m go these days.

How much cash do you think it would take to get a sub 12:55.

We'd need one good rabbit but also some bonus $ to encourage the runners to go with the rabbit.

It shouldn't be that hard unless the drug crackdown is why guys aren't running sub 12:55 but I don't think that's the case.

How much did Yomif get paid for his 12:53 last year?

Again youre doing the same mistake. He was referrring to Mo Farah, but not only Mo Farah. You claimed he blamed the state of track and field on Mo Farah, and Mo Farah only. He did not, he blamed it on Mo Farah and guys running like Mo Farah.

Secondly, no he doesn't run slow in "every single race he runs", but that is nitpicking from you as you clearly understand what hes talking about. Mo Farah running a fast race in peak shape on track, barely happens. Everyone wants to see more of that, I'm guessing you including.

So again, he did not put the blame on Mo Farah alone, but on Mo Farah and guys LIKE Mo Farah. Which would clearly hold up in court as not giving Farah all the blame.

Its the same if there was something wrong with sprinters and Bolt was doing it as much or more than the others. He would be used as an example because hes the best.

He doesn't write that Mo Farah is THE reason track and field is dying and you managing to provide an example of one of Farahs few fast races doesn't change anything. A rare fast race is just that, rare.