Setting a national record as a prank

It wouldn’t be ratified or even noticed without effort on your part. There’s paperwork, drug tests, etc. So basically unless you contacted the Liechtenstein federation, nothing would happen and nobody would care.

Doesn't make sense if the national record for the 1500m 3:39.

No, the Liechtenstein athletic federation won't ratify the record. You'll have better luck entering a race as a female - doesn't require as much 'proof'.

Anyone can set a national record if they choose a sufficiently unusual race distance. The obvious ones are distances which were abandoned long ago. For example early Olympics included the odd steeplechase distances (2500, 2590, 3200 and 4000). You don't have to pretend to be from somewhere else.

That’s not how it works wrote:

It wouldn’t be ratified or even noticed without effort on your part. There’s paperwork, drug tests, etc. So basically unless you contacted the Liechtenstein federation, nothing would happen and nobody would care.

He will get his name on that Wikipedia page he posted. I wonder how long it'll stay up, though.

Joe King wrote:

Anyone can set a national record if they choose a sufficiently unusual race distance. The obvious ones are distances which were abandoned long ago. For example early Olympics included the odd steeplechase distances (2500, 2590, 3200 and 4000). You don't have to pretend to be from somewhere else.

The trouble will be finding a meet that has a 2590 meter steeplechase race.

Hardloper wrote:

No, the Liechtenstein athletic federation won't ratify the record. You'll have better luck entering a race as a female - doesn't require as much 'proof'.

You misunderstood what I said, I was trying to say why isn't the national record closer to the 1500m national record.

Joe King wrote:

Anyone can set a national record if they choose a sufficiently unusual race distance.

So let's say you choose the 600 yard dash, which was part of the Presidential Fitness Test in the 60s and 70s. You run a 1:10, which is faster than any other time you know for that distance.

But does that record count? Johnny Gray's 600 meter WR is 1:12. You know that his 600 yard time en-route to his WR was faster than your 1:10, but nobody can prove it.

Lydiard Cerutty wrote:

Hardloper wrote:

No, the Liechtenstein athletic federation won't ratify the record. You'll have better luck entering a race as a female - doesn't require as much 'proof'.

You misunderstood what I said, I was trying to say why isn't the national record closer to the 1500m national record.

I wasn't responding to you

might not work wrote:

Joe King wrote:

Anyone can set a national record if they choose a sufficiently unusual race distance.

So let's say you choose the 600 yard dash, which was part of the Presidential Fitness Test in the 60s and 70s. You run a 1:10, which is faster than any other time you know for that distance.

But does that record count? Johnny Gray's 600 meter WR is 1:12. You know that his 600 yard time en-route to his WR was faster than your 1:10, but nobody can prove it.

Here's a 600 yard race with Butch Reynolds I found today online

Move there and become a citizen.

Hardloper wrote:

Lydiard Cerutty wrote:

You misunderstood what I said, I was trying to say why isn't the national record closer to the 1500m national record.

I wasn't responding to you

Why did you respond to him and not the OP?

Your "record" will not be officially ratified. Most meet directors will not notice or care.

However, you can use those meet results to brag to people and to get your 15 minutes of fame on Wikipedia.

Joe Carr wrote:

My question is, what are the possible negative ramifications of signing up for some low key meet, putting Liechtenstein as my affiliation (instead of "unattached"), and running the Liechtenstein mile record?

You may be offered Lichtensteinien citizenship.

That’s not how it works wrote:

It wouldn’t be ratified or even noticed without effort on your part. There’s paperwork, drug tests, etc. So basically unless you contacted the Liechtenstein federation, nothing would happen and nobody would care.

It won't be ratified, but you can troll the newspapers in that country and send them your race results. Some of them will print it as a "pending record".

Joe Carr wrote:

I was a fairly decent college runner but have no chance of competing at the elite level. But before I hang up the spikes, I want to run one last race as a prank. So I looked up some national records, and some of them are unbelievably soft. For example, Liechtenstein's mile NR is only 4:40.

There is no need to bother with finding some small country, changing citizenship and then taking part in a sanctioned competition. Instead you could just align yourself with one of the several micro nations that exist in the USA. For example , in New York there is the Kingdom of North Dumpling which has established a constitution, flag, currency, which is the dumpling, national anthem, which is the sound of a stone being thrown into water, and a navy consisting of a single amphibious vehicle.

Or if you live out West you could apply for citizenship of the Republic of Molossia which is located in Nevada. It has an area of 0.0053 km2 and a population of 34 (including dogs). The only draw back is it is still in a state of war with East Germany.

In the south you could apply to the Conch Republic, otherwise known as Key West, Florida. It is a much more substantial micro nation with a population of over 68,000, so you may have some competition. It has an interesting history. In 1982 the Federal Government set up road blocks looking for illegal immigrants. The road blocks effectively cut off travel to the Keys and caused noticeable harm to the tourist industry. When the City Council's complaints went unanswered by the U.S. federal government and attempts to get an injunction against the roadblock failed in court, as a form of protest the Mayor and the Council declared Key West's independence on April 23, 1982. In the eyes of the Council, since the U.S. federal government had set up the equivalent of a border station as if they were a foreign nation, they might as well become one. As many of the local citizens were referred to as Conchs, the nation took the name of the Conch Republic.

If you live in the north there is the Kingdom of Talossa in Wisconsin. It has a small population, 250, but the down side is you may need to learn their official language, Talossan .

coincidentally wrote:

might not work wrote:

So let's say you choose the 600 yard dash, which was part of the Presidential Fitness Test in the 60s and 70s. You run a 1:10, which is faster than any other time you know for that distance.

But does that record count? Johnny Gray's 600 meter WR is 1:12. You know that his 600 yard time en-route to his WR was faster than your 1:10, but nobody can prove it.

Here's a 600 yard race with Butch Reynolds I found today online

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FI5HcCK7VE4

Video is the best part of this idiotic thread.

What about the various Indian tribes? Does the Navajo Nation have their own set of records? What about smaller, lesser known tribes like the Morongo Nation?

Getting Liechtenstein citizenship sounds surprisingly hard- you have to live there for thirty years (you'd probably miss your window to set any running records after that long) or have the community vote on whether to accept you. (

https://www.sapling.com/8253400/receive-liechtenstein-citizenship

) The other option is to marry a citizen, but with 35,000 people, it might be a limited dating pool.

The list of record holders is interesting, with how many belong to just a few people. Günther Hasler has every men's record from 400 to 3000, except the mile. And twin sisters Maria and Helen Ritter hold every women's record from 400 to 3000, mile included.

If you want some even softer national records, check out some of the nations in Oceania- looking at the table for Kiribati, I could claim a few, at least until everyone else reading this thread rushes down there and raises the level of competition. Tuvalu (Pop. 10,640) just has empty spaces for hurdles, steeple, and 5K, 10K & marathon.