20-yr old British triathlete runs 27.51 for 10k in his debut (on a track)

Hopefully, running will not lose another fine young prospect to triathlon because in Yee's case he was able to make a full recovery after an awful bicycle crash, unlike Lukas Verzbicas, who was probably an even better prospect with a sub 4 mile and 8:29 2 mile at 18, but went back to tri after a single bad xc race at Oregon and has never been able to come back to form since a terrible bike crash.

I wonder if this kid is asthmatic...

fast multiplies wrote:

You max out with running. Do too much and you're injured. On the bike, you can train forever. Frank Shorter took up cycling later in life and said he wishes he did more earlier.

But 27.51 at 20 and not focusing on running? Zatopek barely broke 30 after training his arse off for years. How is that development even possible?

My guess (but I really have no sepcific knowledge on this area) is that the training done by top triathletes is much more effective at targeting endurance development, maybe they use a lot of lactate threshold testing and try to hit that area periodically to consistently bump it up. It could be that a lot of running training done by running specialists is still focused on running hard repetitions which just wear an athlete down when it comes to developing endurance over the long term. Maybe, as you say, you can also do this better with a reduced risk of injury if you are also doing the workouts as cycling or swimming workouts.

Zatopek was probably not optimally trained given what is known today about training. Plus I am not sure that he was able to train full time. I also guess that running on those cinder tracks with those leather spikes was a fair bit slower than the conditions athletes have today.

Nevertheless, the guy's run was awesome. To put into perspective his pace over 10000m is faster than Mo Farah's pace over 5000m at the same age. However, Farah then discovered the power of core-stability exercises and press ups in his mid 20s and he went on to make huge improvements at that level.

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I was at this event last night watching - it's called the 'Night of the 10k PBs' here in London and it is absolutely insane.

Thousands of people all over the place including on the track lining all the way around lane 3, 2 beer tents over the track runners run through that are filled with people and tunnels of noise, music blaring, some guy juggling fire in the middle of the track, an MC screaming, screens giving k splits etc etc. Kids everywhere watching as well. It's free entry, run by a local club and staffed entirely by volunteers. I've never been to a track meet to watch before and this was amazing. The adrenaline must be off the charts and loads of people even top class runners run PBs.

icrlp05 wrote:

I was at this event last night watching - it's called the 'Night of the 10k PBs' here in London and it is absolutely insane.

Thousands of people all over the place including on the track lining all the way around lane 3, 2 beer tents over the track runners run through that are filled with people and tunnels of noise, music blaring, some guy juggling fire in the middle of the track, an MC screaming, screens giving k splits etc etc. Kids everywhere watching as well. It's free entry, run by a local club and staffed entirely by volunteers. I've never been to a track meet to watch before and this was amazing. The adrenaline must be off the charts and loads of people even top class runners run PBs.

from last year

Official results

https://data.opentrack.run/x/2018/GBR/not/event/

in awe wrote:

Phenomenal running. A lot of these triathletes are awesome runners in their own right. Many of us runners could learn a lot from how triathletes approach running training. Anyone know how they do it? Traditional running training may in the dark ages compared with the triathletes.

Runners couldn't learn anything "from how triathletes approach running training", there are dozens of teenagers in Africa who can run his time and better and all they do is get out and run, non-Africans should try it some time.

I think it lies in the volume.

Pro runners train very small hours compared to other endurance athletes. Of course the runners still run better because of specialisation. However, I wonder what the 100mile guys could do if they just did the same 100 miles and added a bit of cycling to it.

I do duathlons and of course am not elite. But my cycling training tremendously help my running. You can go ride your bike for five hours at a challenging pace. That gives a lot of endurance. Plus the strength you get from bigger gear riding seems to give a nice pop in the legs for running.

Now, Triathletes add swimming to the mix as well. There you have very good and hard Vo2max workouts and swimming helps to flush the legs and recover from cycling and running.

Of course, usually the top runners will never go to Triathlon. But some Triathletes are better runners than most of here think they are.

If you wanna be a runner you run.

If you wanna be a swimmer you swim.

If you wanna be a bike rider you ride.

If you wanna be a triathlete you run, ride and swim.

It ain't rocket science.

Equality wrote:

The equivalent performance for a woman would be 31:52. Ring any bells?

So you say Wee is going on to win Marathon gold in two years?

*Yee

This is a phenomenal time but about 5 years ago an aussie triathlete ran 3k in around 8:07 as a 17 year old so not entirely surprised.

coahc wrote:

This is a phenomenal time but about 5 years ago an aussie triathlete ran 3k in around 8:07 as a 17 year old so not entirely surprised.

8:07 is a very good time for 3k especially as a 17 year old. However, 27:51 for 10000m is a totally different ball game.

Just run. wrote:

Runners couldn't learn anything "from how triathletes approach running training", there are dozens of teenagers in Africa who can run his time and better and all they do is get out and run, non-Africans should try it some time.

Not sure about this. Can you name the dozens of East African teenagers running under 28 mins for 10000m? The main point is that this young gun, from a triathlon background, beat the 2 best (bar Farah) British 10000m runners in his debut and both of those runners are top class in their on right - both have won medals in the European track and field championships. Obviously he is extremely talented but if you also look at guys like Brown Lee, there is something that many triathletes are doing in their training which is looks to be more effective in fulfilling distance running potential compared with what many other distance running specialists are doing in their training.

It ain't rocket science. wrote:

If you wanna be a runner you run.

If you wanna be a swimmer you swim.

If you wanna be a bike rider you ride.

If you wanna be a triathlete you run, ride and swim.

It ain't rocket science.

I think there is more to it, it is not just what activity you are doing, it is how you are doing it, mainly in terms of volume and intensity which will govern how your performance improves. This guy beat 2 of the best British 10000m runners over the last 10 years in his first attempt at a track 10k. Given his young age I am sure he has run much less mileage than the others. He is obviously a huge talent but I guess that many triathletes today are better dialed in (maybe through coaching approaches) to improving their endurance performance than specialist distance runners. As someone who has come from a traditional distance running background it is painful to admit but you cannot argue with the results.

The BBC had a live feed on iPlayer via a 3rd party team.

Tim Hutchings(?) and Seb Coe were guest commentators for the men's race.

Interestingly the commentator said two laps to go, then heard the bell and corrected himself to say "last lap".

Lots of lapped runners so definitely a crowded track.

Could it have been a lap short?

Looked quite an open track, pretty breezy, and temperature had dropped by 9pm

Anyone there who can comment?

Those who have followed Alex Yee here in UK over the junior years know the kind of talent he is, and yesterday's result surprises no-one. To those retarded who are already started the doping-innuendo rubbish you guys better go and check his progression over the years, which has been as steady as it gets - two years ago at the world juniors he came i think sixth in just under 14', he wasn't even the first European (a Serbian beat him), behind a group of East African whose age was unknown. One year ago he ran 13'35" before he had the bike accident in Sardinia during a triathlon which almost put him on a wheelchair for good. Now he has gone under 28' which translates to 13'20-25. So he is a talent and is progressing.

Having said that, he should give up Triathlon alltogether (he's a below par swimmer which forces to take risks cycling) and just focus on running.

Commentator wrote:

The BBC had a live feed on iPlayer via a 3rd party team.

Tim Hutchings(?) and Seb Coe were guest commentators for the men's race.

Interestingly the commentator said two laps to go, then heard the bell and corrected himself to say "last lap".

Lots of lapped runners so definitely a crowded track.

Could it have been a lap short?

Looked quite an open track, pretty breezy, and temperature had dropped by 9pm

Anyone there who can comment?

Not a chance, there were some 10 between judges and timekeeping, including two screen with updates every km (the athletes wore chip timing). As for the weather, the temperature was 15 degrees, wind wasn't strong at all and humidity was around 50%. If anything it was ideal for running FAST.

Dont try to get too smart pal....