Don't lead a 1500m/mile!!!

ttc, I was far from an elite. I was a 4:00-4:03 guy and only placed in an NCAA championship once. I was in some big invitationals along the way. I am stating this to clarify that I don't think of myself as more than what I was or come across like I know it all. I found 800's (short enough) and 5000's (long enough) to be different, but 1500's to fit the 'don't lead' catagory. It takes 2% more effort and energy to lead, break the air, etc. at that speed. This does not include the huge mental difference that sitting in a pack and feel like you are on a Sunday jog can do for you. In the pack, you feel like you are gaining energy rather than expanding it. You feel stronger as you go. Someone may be comfortable up front, but they couldn't be as relaxed and 'in control' as the guys coasting along behind. Have you ever got in the middle of a pack on a tempo run and feel how easy it is to glide along. It is like that. When it comes time to kick, you feel like you are running a fresh 400-600. I hope this gives a start that others can build upon.

Thanks for the response. I guess I'm the exception. If I was good enough, I would jump at the chance to lead and hold off the opposition.

go to Jim Ryun's running camp webpage and watch him set the world record (3:51.1) ALL BY HIMSELF. He led from the gun and never looked back. I'm not saying you should try this at home, but if you are the class of the field, why not go for broke ?

I believe it was either Steve Scott or Wilson Boit who said that if they knew they would win, they would always lead and never leave anything to chance. If it were a battle of equals, they would try to sit and kick.

How valid is that 2% extra effort factor? That would seem to make a big difference when competitors are very similar in capability.

Bill, I truly believe your last sentence. But how often is one guy truly 'much better' than the others? It does happen (like your Ryun example), but usually the talent levels are so close that leading and giving up that edge can/does make the difference. ttc, You said you are the exception. Go with that. Do what makes you the most comfortable. When in a good field, try another strategy & your body/mind will tell you what is best for you. It's called experience. Good luck!

Just the facts, you hit the nail on the head. Its something about that feeling of having the sound of spikes and other runners panting and breathing down your neck. I finished second in a big competition in where I was the favorite because of my sit and kick tactics. Confident at the time I tried to lead knowing this has never worked for me. The week after pretty much the same competitors same distance I sat in the pack playing my gameboy and on the last lap I was gone. The only time I have lead from the gun is at rinky dink meets. Most of the other times I was the unpaid rabbit.

The roc.

Go watch a few track tapes and see how many close championship races are won wire to wire. Not very many i'm sure. When the talent is close, you cannot lead. You can't see what is going on behind you and by the time a move is made, the world is going by and you cannot react.

My coach gave me great advice once. Never go to the lead just to take the lead. If you are going to the front, it better be a move to the finish. If you are the class of the field, this could be right from the start. If you are in with a bunch of kickers, it may be from 800 out. If you have great wheels, it could be coming off the turn.

The last miler who regularly "took it out" was Filbert Bayi, WR holder from Tanzania. He would go out in 51, open a huge lead, and try to hold 'em off from there. It worked early in his career when it shocked his opponents, but once they realized he was going to slow down, they started to run their own pace and would take him down at the end.

It is definitive that a good miler has a good kick, and a good kick depends on surprise and timing. If you are in front, you can't detect a sudden move early enough and will lose advantage at the most crucial juncture in the race. It's all about momentum.

Nice summation 'miler'. You refer to the '74 Commonwealth Games 1500m where Filber B went out very fast and just held off a hard-charging John Walker. Both would go on to set WR's in the mile.

Sure, in a field where one runner is clearly superior to the others he can lead wire to wire. However, when runners are more evenly matched (see most championship races), the early leader just sets a pace and cuts the wind for the eventual winner.

There is also the option of making the mile into a long, hard charge to end. This is what Seb Coe did in a truly fantastic race at the 1984 Games. He sat for 800m, then moved up onto the leaders shoulder and started pushing the pace. He said something to the effect of making the race race into one he knew he could win, which was a protracted hard pace. Kind of interesting when you consider that he is usually known for his unreal kick.

Letsrun.com: where you talk in circles about running in circles (trademark pending).

My non-elite 2 cents:

This doesn't sound like rocket science to me. And there isn't one single answer.

If I'm aiming for a good time, and the pack isn't setting the pace for it, I'll lead. Which implies I don't have much kick, which is true. But a fast kick can't make up for a slow first two laps, time-wise.

If I don't have to lead to run the pace I want, I don't. But I'll be damned if I'll slow down on purpose.

i've actually read that it's a 6-8% difference in output when you lead. The faster you guy, the more it is to - look at race car racing and see how important of a role it plays there. Even swimmers try to get a draft off a faster guy in the lane beside them. And yes it does make a difference, that's why ppl don't like to go from the gun unless they are sure they can take the field that way.

I hope that 51 second call was just a way of you exaggerating Bayis speed in the first lap. Sure he took it fast, but not quite that fast. 54, and 1min53 at 800m, 2min49 at 1200m were his splits. But remember that was back in 74, so thats pretty awesome. Its still probably the best pure footrace ever. For those days, the depth of the field was amazing. It has to qualify as the best, because with two guys under the WR, and in a non-paced championship race, its phenomenal. I have heard some people say the 1500 in Seville overtook it, but that was obviously a paced race.

kelso wrote:

I hope that 51 second call was just a way of you exaggerating Bayis speed in the first lap. Sure he took it fast, but not quite that fast. 54, and 1min53 at 800m, 2min49 at 1200m were his splits. But remember that was back in 74, so thats pretty awesome.

My remant brain cell first had me typing 53 (not bad after 29 years, huh?), but then I seem to recollect another, later, occasion when he REALLY took it out the first lap in about 51, only to fade badly at the end. Maybe it's in Kenny Moore's (excellent) book, which unfortunately I don't have....

Commonwealth Games Men's 1500, Auckland 1974

Tanzanian Filbert Bayi surprised no one when he blistered the early pace, with only Mike Boit trying to keep up. Through 400 in 54.9, and 800 in 1:52.2, Bayi charged. Much farther back ran Kenyan Ben Jipcho, who had won the Commonwealth gold twice. Olympic bronze medallist Rod Dixon also gave chase, and farther back ran his New Zealand teammate, John Walker.

At three laps (2:50.8), Boit had faded, and Jipcho mounted a doomed effort. Walker and Dixon soon passed him, and on the final turn, everyone waited for Bayi to crumble from the suicidal pace. It never happened. As Walker drew close on the homestretch, Bayi glanced at him and sprinted away. He crossed the line victorious in 3:32.2 as both he and Walker (3:32.5) broke Jim Ryun's world record of 3:33.1. So thrilled was Bayi that he launched into an all-out sprint on his victory lap.

Walker would go on to win the 1976 Olympic gold medal, one of many hoped-for clashes between the two that never materialized. Bayi was denied the chance to run in Montreal because of the African boycott of the Games.

My mentality, when leading, is that someone's going to have to go 'through' me to win the race. When only track is ahead of me it fires me up, and....going into the last lap, if I gun it the entire way, it will force anyone who wants to win to 'kill' themselves for it.

With regards to not being able to react to a move, just think how much worse it is when the person making the move is already 5 meters ahead and takes it to 10, or worse if you are boxed in waiting to kick.

In addition, I really don't care what's going on behind me, until someone tries to pass. I just always assume that someone will try to sprint by, in order to be ready. This is better than being in the crowd and waiting for an opening that could occur anywhere between 50m to 400m left in the race.

Whenever racing against people of my own ability/speed, I usually won. In fact, one time with a hangover, I jumped to the lead and slowed it down. No one took it over, so I just took off with 400m to go and won. I just wish I was a ton faster, so that I could prove my strategy to a national audience.

It is all psychological, if an individual is fit and ready running from the front can be very benefical. The prime factor is have they been prepared to run from the front mentally and physically. The only drawback would be if the weather was not advantageous for such a tactic. I know several different scenario were the frontrunner did VERY WELL and others times he/she didn't.

The best example was Paula Ivan tearing off the starting line of the 1500m Olympic Final in semi-gusty wind. Paula

was in fear of Tatyana S. outkicking-so she went thru the first 400m in 60.3 and barely slowed finishing in 3:53 over 6 seconds ahead of second place. She was prepared mentally and physically to lead and thats all it takes to try such a move.

Look at Aryhan Suryea (Tur)!