Fastest last 400m of a 1500m-10000m race ever?

I think it was Cacho 1992 or Centro 2016.

Farah closed in 50.89 at the European Team Championships in 2013:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XCmEqSGpjY

He was obviously jogging almost the whole race, but, to be fair, so was Centro in 2016.

49.9 gonzalez 1986 Europa Cup 1500m in front of Cram

Dirtrunner wrote:

The title says it all.

Yes it does.

Congratulations, you are the umteenth person to ask this question.

From 2006

Steve Cram and Jose-Luis Gonzalez in the 1987 European Cup

400 in 49.9 for 3:45.5

Nourredine Morceli WC93 400 in 50.6 for 3:34.23

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From 2007

Correct. 49.4--Fastest recorded last lap. IAAF World Cup 9/16/2006.

1 AFR Kipchirchir Alex KEN 3:52.60

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From 2012

he following stats page by Ken Nakamura has a list of fastest laps at the World Outdoor Champs:

The only sub 52.0 last lap in a 3:33 or faster race was Morceli's win in 1991 (3:32.84). Morceli's 50.6 (3:34) to win in 1993 is the fastest last lap in the World Champs.

and

I swear, I'm going senile. Not only did I know about it, but I also have a copy of the video and already did analysis on it. Can't keep a good thing to myself, so here it is:

1993 WC 1500m

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From 2016

Gonzalez 49.9

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Ryun's OT in '68 was indeed 3:49.0, and last lap was 50.8, according to this book.

Also, last 880 was then-fastest-ever, 1:50.8!

As for the Dusseldorf race in '67, here's what Cordner Nelson wrote (verbatim):

"With four of the fastest finishers of all time in the battle, the pace was extremely slow. At the bell, Tummler jumped into the lead, while Norpoth delayed Ryun. But Ryun swung around Norpoth on the curve, with the German crowd roaring loudly.

"Then came the fastest burst of speed ever recorded in any mile or 1500 meter race. Ryun accelerated so fast and left Tummler behind so rapidly that the German crowd was stunned into silence. One expert observer timed Ryun's 100 meters along the backstretch in a nearly incredible 11.6 seconds.

"Ryun continued to pull away, although naturally not quite so fast. His last 200 meters averaged 12.4 seconds for each 100, a total of 24.8. Thus his last 300 meters took only 36.4, easily the fastest ever run. His last 400 was also fastest on record--50.6. (One report gave his last 400 as 49.7.)

"Results: Ryun 3:38.2, Tummler 3:42.3, Norpoth 3:42.5, Grelle 3:42.8."

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and:

Centro at Rio - 50.62 kick.

(I had to use the string of numbers to separate the items because a string

of dashes generated a "detected multiple repeated characters" error,

stupid auto editor)

So Cram etc were fastest but Cacho did do 50.38 in an Olympic final which has the most merit.

that is greatest finish in a 5k

Bernie was not leading at bell, only 3rd, so his actual split was

~ 51.7

further, he had to run huge amount wide on both bends, ~ 4m in total, so he actually ran 404m in 51.7

-> route-1 last last lap of exactly 400m

~ 51.2

it is a huge pity that Bernie was not around in that '06 shape in mo era of '11 - '17 & contesting global 5ks

we wouda been seeing mo being scraped off the soles of Bernie's size 15s !!!

Lots of people could easily do better than this in training. It’s just not impressive to have this kind of record so they don’t. Even someone like Alyson Felix probably could do better.

kennster that year was in pretty damn good 5k shape, running 12'48 in zurich off some crap splits

https://sites.google.com/site/unofficialbekele/races/20060818

easily he couda gone 12'40 - 12'42.5 if he'd run flat out from gun in zurich, so Bernie crushed a ~ 12'40 guy in the last lap of that london 5k

I must admit, Bernie's shape in '06 in that london race is one of most difficult i've ever tried to estimate

he certainly couda run ~ 12'50 if flat-out that day

he ran a 3'29 in rieti after a terrible zurich 1500 when he finished 7th in 3'34.7, where he said he was sick which is obviously reason for such a poor run

i don't think he was anywhere close to his london shape when he ran 3'29 in rieti

the shape i get for him in that london 5k is off the scale for some distances

~ 48.00 / 1'43.50

->

2'12.39 !

3'26.82 !!

7'21.76 !!

12'50.81

even in '06, he still had capability of dipping into 3'26s but age made his runs unpredictable ( adding in even more unpredictability with illness )

his 400 speed had definitely slowed a lot from '01 when he ran 3'26+, his speed then i get as being 46-low/mid

this does show you how endurance gains as you age can counter speed losses to keep you at near constant miling ability well into old age...

El Guerruouj, 51.11 in the 2004 Olympic 1500m Final

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ge6_o4SkQGg&t=248s

ga wrote:

El Guerruouj, 51.11 in the 2004 Olympic 1500m Final

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ge6_o4SkQGg&t=248s

No. He went through bell in 2:42.1/2:42.2 and his finish time was 3:34.19, making his last 400m 51.9/52.0.

Webb's 900m - 1000m in the 2005 1500m world champs. That sprint was pure hate.

Oh whoops, wrong thread.

lol...

Is there actually a thread for that - something like What is the fastest 100 not in the first or last lap?

calculo wrote:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2rHmSKqs2w

that is greatest finish in a 5k

Bernie was not leading at bell, only 3rd, so his actual split was

~ 51.7

further, he had to run huge amount wide on both bends, ~ 4m in total, so he actually ran 404m in 51.7

-> route-1 last last lap of exactly 400m

~ 51.2

it is a huge pity that Bernie was not around in that '06 shape in mo era of '11 - '17 & contesting global 5ks

we wouda been seeing mo being scraped off the soles of Bernie's size 15s !!!

there is no human i'd rather watch run than bernard lagat. he is the most graceful/powerful/smooth/efficient runner on earth

i'm thankful i got to watch him race while he was in his prime

he is also a freak of a human in terms of musculature - wow

NCAA indoors where it was Soratos vs Cheserek in the mile in 2015. Soratos dropped a 26.4 for the 200m (~13.2 for the 100) from 600-800m in the race after a slow opening 600. ballsy move, too bad it didn't pay off

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eo6CbtqnDig

Webb has the fastest 9th 100m of a 1500m race.

Star wrote:

Webb has the fastest 9th 100m of a 1500m race.

Webb is back, baby!

The thing to keep in mind is it's not necessarily the WINNER who runs the fastest last lap of a race. For example, in Cacho's race El Basir ran the fastest last lap.

Ryun insists he ran the last lap of the 1967 US vs West Germany 1500m in under 50 seconds. Unfortunately there was no 1100m split taken. He did run the last 300 in 36.

bernie > mo wrote:

calculo wrote:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2rHmSKqs2w

that is greatest finish in a 5k

Bernie was not leading at bell, only 3rd, so his actual split was

~ 51.7

further, he had to run huge amount wide on both bends, ~ 4m in total, so he actually ran 404m in 51.7

-> route-1 last last lap of exactly 400m

~ 51.2

it is a huge pity that Bernie was not around in that '06 shape in mo era of '11 - '17 & contesting global 5ks

we wouda been seeing mo being scraped off the soles of Bernie's size 15s !!!

there is no human i'd rather watch run than bernard lagat. he is the most graceful/powerful/smooth/efficient runner on earth

i'm thankful i got to watch him race while he was in his prime

he is also a freak of a human in terms of musculature - wow

Agree. I've always thought that Lagat - not Bekele, not El Guerrouj, not Rudisha - was the most talented distance/middle distance runner of all time. His light training schedule, stride (the best I've ever seen), build, and effortless speed are what make me think this. That he had so light of a training schedule has enabled him to have a long career but he could have burned a little brighter if he'd trained more like El G or Alan Webb.