"Run out front and flat out till I have nothing left."

If you have the Pure Hate reserves, this is the only strategy.

ovobuff wrote:

This is a quote from Without Limits a movie about Prefontaine. Do you think this is a good race strategy? Why or why not?

I respect this strategy, but I also never won a race

Because there would still be over 11 laps to go?

Do you really mean FLAT OUT? If you're decently fast you'll get to around 300m, before totally tying up.

So hopefully the race distance is 300m or shorter.

The kamikaze strategy? Run out front and flat out till I have nothing left....and run your last 100 meters, after placing almost dead last in the back pack as if you are a sprinter. Nice strategy.

It can work for an 800, if you're fast enough (sub-2) and have more endurance than speed. It can work for 5000 if you're Pre.

The 'suicide pace' can work in a strategic road/CC race if 1) your competitors try to stick with you, 2) you have more balls than them. Going out too fast will destroy you, but it will also destroy anyone who runs with you.

If in doubt, run on pure hate instead.

here's the strategy my teammates and i displayed when running dual meets against really bad high schools:

know your info - are they faster than you? if so, run your own race and aim for your best time (even splits

are they slower? is so, run your first mile so fast nobody will go with you then settle in.

when i used to race guys who ran low-15's in high school, i knew i couldn't really do much better than 15:20-30 so i would just run 5 flat miles. however, when i raced against a large group of people but nobody ran faster than 17:00 (like at the beginning of a season) i would just run a 4:45 mile and then settle in to 5:20s and 5:30s and nobody would catch up. i would end up running a 16:30 or so and have a lot more in the tank but i lead the entire time.

what do you mean by running on pure hate

ovoindian wrote:

what do you mean by running on pure hate

It's the original PED.

It didn't work for Pre in the 72 Olympics. It cost him a medal.

ovobuff wrote:

This is a quote from Without Limits a movie about Prefontaine. Do you think this is a good race strategy? Why or why not?

This is a good strategy for anyone if they're in the right race. In high school I was a 2 miler during track season, when I would race the mile I'd lead the whole race and make sure the first lap was quick enough to drain the speed out of the shorter distance guys who could drop a 60 second last lap. This worked every time, however if I was running a cross country 5K I'd sit in behind the leaders and let them drain their energy leading the race, then take them with about 400 to go. Just depends how yo run the race.

In Pre's situation in Munich, I think in hindsight he would've been better off running a tactical race. Going for the sit and kick would've forced Veeren to do more of the work, that combined with his sore legs from the 10k would've been ample opportunity for Pre to strike.

ovoindian wrote:

what do you mean by running on pure hate

Bro, do you even run, bro?

Booty Runner wrote:

If you have the Pure Hate reserves, this is the only strategy.

Alan Webb approves this message

I watched that Zurich race. It was tactical. It's the one time Pre didn't try to run flat out from the start.

As far as the question is it a good strategy it can work well for slow twitch runners. A slow twitch runner wants to force switch runners to use up their face twitch fibers early so there is nothing left at the end to out kick them. On a longer race they will just fade. I think the real trick though is figuring out when to start to apply the grind.

When people say such things, they're lying or don't know what phrases like "flat-out" means.

Pre didn't run flat out except at choice moments for very brief periods of time. He only says he did because he's an attention whore who liked the attention it gave him. Anyone with a clue knows he was full of it.

Runn262 wrote:

It didn't work for Pre in the 72 Olympics. It cost him a medal.

That's not what happened in Munich at all. It was a jog fest until Pre began his "drive for home" with a mile remaining.

RUNNING IN FRONT OF THE OTHER RUNNERS IS THE EASIEST WAY TO WIN A RACE. I AM NOT A BOT.

So under your strategy, you, as a 15:20 runner, lose to people running low 15s and beat people who run 17. That's an awesome strategy you figured out.