last one standing, a 5000m elimination track race

Star wrote:

Here's a way to make it better:

Release a wild animal, like a lion, every lap on the home straight.

Whoever the animal catches and kills is out of the race.

Tried it. Doesn't work as well as you'd think. The lion goes for the weakest looking one, not necessarily the slowest one. Takes a lot of the competition out of it really.

Joji wrote:

Yeah it's totally inspired from track cycling. They've done a much better job than athletics at trying to bring in different types of interesting events. The difference though being that cycling has more strategic opportunities given the drafting benefits

Yep, and still no one cares about track cycling.

Bird Expert wrote:

Star wrote:

Here's a way to make it better:

Release a wild animal, like a lion, every lap on the home straight.

Whoever the animal catches and kills is out of the race.

Tried it. Doesn't work as well as you'd think. The lion goes for the weakest looking one, not necessarily the slowest one. Takes a lot of the competition out of it really.

Are you kidding me?

No way a lion is going to pass up a slow fatty for a fast scrawny runner.

Are you kidding me?

No way a lion is going to pass up a slow fatty for a fast scrawny runner.[/quote]

It's about the perceived effort on the lion's part. They might get injured taking down the biggest fattest runner on the track, so they leave him alone and go for the easy kill. In the wild they go after the smaller, younger gazelles rather than the biggest and most delicious looking ones in the group.

Look.

You may know a lot about birds.

But trust me on the lions.

That's an ironic name. I know nothing of birds. I've seen lion king 8 times on the other hand. I've even seen half of lion king 2, not the good half though (I'm assuming), so I think I know a thing or 2 about how lions think.

OK. You got me.

I was bluffing on the lion knowledge.

But who cares who the lion kills.

It would still be exciting to see a lion kill someone each lap.

I like the idea of bunching up the field as a safe lap. It makes it a lot harder to run away with it.

Joji, full points just for proposing this.

Wish I could sack the whole AA executive (expollies and friends) and install innovators like you...

not AA wrote:

Joji, full points just for proposing this.

Wish I could sack the whole AA executive (expollies and friends) and install innovators like you...

This isn't innovation, it's a track cycling event. What would actually be innovative is if he also allowed real teams to work together by pushing one another along with a hand on the back of team mates. This would make up for the lack of abilities for runners to do anything that actually helps teammates like what happens in bike races.

Bonus points if he allows competitors to body slam one another off the track to knock them out.

Surprise! wrote:

Joji wrote:

Yeah it's totally inspired from track cycling. They've done a much better job than athletics at trying to bring in different types of interesting events. The difference though being that cycling has more strategic opportunities given the drafting benefits

Yep, and still no one cares about track cycling.

Typical narrrow minded lets-runner.... you will be surprised is actually very funny to watch, especially the longer distances...

What this is missing is a soccer ball.

Divide your entrants into two teams and give them each a soccer ball, and see which team can kick the ball around the track 12 1/2 times first. No, not a distance race, but 10 times as exciting.

I haven't read all the replies yet, if no one has mentioned it these are called "Devil Takes The Hindmost" races, and go way-y back.

Fun stuff.

I have yet another idea: What about two groups starting out on opposite sides of the track, whoever is caught gets eliminated. Can come down to an epic showdown for the last few runners..

I do something like this at practice occasionally and my runners love it. We have a big field and I divide them into four teams. Each team has a fairly even mix of fast, average, and slow. They all start running counter clockwise and do one lap each before the next person on their team goes. If anyone gets caught, they then go to the team that catches them and the next person on their old team has to start right away. It's really fun because it inevitably gets down to one team with a bunch of runners, one team with only a few that have to really go into the tank, and eventually one person remaining on a team holding on as long as he/she can before getting caught because they don't get a break.

alan thicke willl crush that lion and dominate

Surprise! wrote:

Joji wrote:

Yeah it's totally inspired from track cycling. They've done a much better job than athletics at trying to bring in different types of interesting events. The difference though being that cycling has more strategic opportunities given the drafting benefits

Yep, and still no one cares about track cycling.

Really?

Bird Expert wrote:

Are you kidding me?

No way a lion is going to pass up a slow fatty for a fast scrawny runner.

It's about the perceived effort on the lion's part. They might get injured taking down the biggest fattest runner on the track, so they leave him alone and go for the easy kill. In the wild they go after the smaller, younger gazelles rather than the biggest and most delicious looking ones in the group.[/quote]

Some of us just prefer the smaller, younger gazelles with their slender legs and wide eyed view of the world.

jackdogwelch.com

Original Gangsters Of Running – Steve Hoag

JDW

I managed to become friendly with a few runners over some decades immersed in the sport. First a fan of Steve’s and then something of a colleague. Many years later, I told him I was sorry we …

Link:http://www.jackdogwelch.com/?p=29442

Is this the same kind of race Steve Hoag references?

“Last person-out” races were fun to watch and run on the track.