Would an Elimination 5k be the most exciting race in Track? Eliminate last place and award lap leader...

Here's an elimination mile from earlier this summer.

https://youtu.be/qZ5YC-EeOSU

I wonder if you could adapt the Oxford/Cambridge rowing "bumps races" to make a competitive interval session?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bumps_race

So you have 8-12 people, and they have to run a series of 5 x 800m races, with a staggered start (20m?) and maybe 5 minutes recovery. In any rep, if you touch the guy in front, they are out (thus maybe saving some energy), and you change places with them for the next rep. Or if you're really ballsy you can leapfrog and go wide and chase someone two in front, but when time's running out you'd have to put the brakes on and touch the guy you overtook or it doesn't count. You have to start fast, but also have to worry a bit about the other reps to come.

Could be random seeding, or the one with the best PB/SB at the back.

I mean, tag would be fun, but at the end of the day, don't we want to see the leaders run a legitimate race with a meaningful - if potentially unimpressive - time?

And I don't think too many runners would be interested in training and tapering only to end up running one lap.

Patrick Bateman wrote:

Already happened a few years ago.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rirBSmIdA00

However, definitely would love to see this happen again.

There seems to be more people watching this race than you usually get out for a whole T&F meet.

SDSU Aztec wrote:And I don't think too many runners would be interested in training and tapering only to end up running one lap.

SDSU Aztec wrote:

theJeff wrote:

I mean, tag would be fun, but at the end of the day, don't we want to see the leaders run a legitimate race with a meaningful - if potentially unimpressive - time?

And I don't think too many runners would be interested in training and tapering only to end up running one lap.

Why not? There are people already that spend hours and hours a day, week, and month in hot weather, cold weather, rainy weather, etc. that run a race that only lasts four minutes.

Main Stage wrote:

SDSU Aztec wrote:

And I don't think too many runners would be interested in training and tapering only to end up running one lap.

Why not? There are people already that spend hours and hours a day, week, and month in hot weather, cold weather, rainy weather, etc. that run a race that only lasts four minutes.

How will it turn out for runners like Ritz that don't have good top-end speed?

SDSU Aztec wrote:

theJeff wrote:

I mean, tag would be fun, but at the end of the day, don't we want to see the leaders run a legitimate race with a meaningful - if potentially unimpressive - time?

And I don't think too many runners would be interested in training and tapering only to end up running one lap.

I've GOT it... have the entire Elimination 5k field race a 10k (or 3k) later that evening... the guy who only finished one lap will be LOVING that :-)

SDSU Aztec wrote:How will it turn out for runners like Ritz that don't have good top-end speed?

Last man standing if the HORN SOUNDS you reverse direction last man to cross finish line is eliminated otherwise last man to cross finish line is eliminated. This levels the playing field and adds strategic positioning. The horn timing would be random but once any runner crosses before horn then no horn for that lap.

Charlie wrote:

Last man standing if the HORN SOUNDS you reverse direction last man to cross finish line is eliminated otherwise last man to cross finish line is eliminated. This levels the playing field and adds strategic positioning. The horn timing would be random but once any runner crosses before horn then no horn for that lap.

Puma running in the NE used to have a pretty solid core of dudes that would put stuff like this on all the time. Unfortunately they disbanded when the bigger name brands started to pinch their HS/college teams. I would love to see this sort of thing happen again but all of the big brand names don't seem too keen on throwing these super interactive types of events like Puma used to a few years ago.

Yo Brojos!

Wanna sponsor this thing?

The $10,000 LetsRun.com Elimination 5k:

1. Eliminate the caboose after 600m and every 400m after that.

2. Whoever wins the first 600 gets $100, whoever is leading after the 2nd full lap gets $200... whoever is leading at the end of the race gets $1300.

3. $900 bonus to whoever is leading at the end of the most laps.

Bonus: a $500 Winner Take All 3,000m later in the evening, only open to the participants of the LRCE5k.

Always sounds great fun in theory. Never works out the way you think it will.

Can't equate it to cycling because of the issue with drafting.

Fast runners go out fairly quick, slower runners quickly fall off the back. You don't really get any exciting sprints for the line after a couple of laps because everyone at the back is there because they're knackered. Eventually the best guy gets a lead and cruises home for the win.

There's something kind of similar in a progression race on a 200m track:

http://grindfest414.wixsite.com/grindfest/rules

Basically the race starts @ ~6:10/mile pace and progresses down to 4:30/mile pace. If you can't hang with the pack you're out.

Probably wouldn't work well on the elite level, but it's a cool format for a local/regional race.

theJeff wrote:

Yo Brojos!

Wanna sponsor this thing?

The $10,000 LetsRun.com Elimination 5k:

1. Eliminate the caboose after 600m and every 400m after that.

2. Whoever wins the first 600 gets $100, whoever is leading after the 2nd full lap gets $200... whoever is leading at the end of the race gets $1300.

3. $900 bonus to whoever is leading at the end of the most laps.

Bonus: a $500 Winner Take All 3,000m later in the evening, only open to the participants of the LRCE5k.

I'd be a lot more likely to pay to stream this than the stupid Tiger/Phil thing.

Has been done in the past even at championship level. I think European Cup in 2009 in Portugal where top European nations competed against each other. I think for 3k, 5k and the steeple not everyone but some athletes were eliminated after 3,5,7 and 9 laps or so (for 5k).

It was a complete mess, coaches advised people to finish the race if they were not sure if it was them who should be eliminated, tons of protests, officials trying to pull athletes from the track... They dropped it after that one trial.