Run-Down Forums

[Conway]

Good question ... And you don't even have ot look at how deep the competitoin may or may not be, look at the quality of marks that are turned in by those that move up and down:

Koch - 10.83/21.71/47.60
Wockel - 10.85/21.85/49.56
Kratochvilova - 11.07/21.97/47.99/1:53.28
Cheeseborough - 10.99/21.99/49.05
Brisco - 10.99/21.81/48.88

Olizarienko - 1:53.48/3:56.8
Mineyeva - 1:54.81/3:57.7
Kazankina - 1:54.94/3:52.47/8:22.62
Melinte - 1:55.05/3:56.7

Gabriella Szabo - 3:59.25/8:24.19/14:31.48
Sonia O'Sullivan - 8:21.64/14:41.12
Olga Yegorova - 8:23.26/14:29.32


As just some basic examples ... Outstanding range (and there are lots more) ... Why can the women do this and the men can't ??? Or at least why can't the men as regularly ??? (MJ, Tommie Smith, Geb are examples of those that did obviously) ..

[Conway]

[Conway]

[Dan]

Ok then, how about a 150m match race between Gatlin and Lewis-Francis?

Dan

[Conway]

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo ... Not that again ... Ya know I thought the idea was cool the first time around ... Until the race happened ... And maybe the problem was the one on one thing ... Now how about something like this ... Some group that wants to front that kind of money picks a venue like say Rome ... And get them to add a race like the 150 ... And then you invite a field of guys to a winner take all race over othe distance ???

[Dan]

I liked the idea, too. Like you, I think the problem was that they expected 2 people to be able to carry the entire event and had to rely heavily on hype as a result. The match race idea seems fine to me, but there should be several events. Either different one on one distances or a series of single distance qualifying/championship format duels.

They also overshot the money side of things, making it nearly impossible to not forget about the competition inherent to the event... Typical appearance fee levels ought to be sufficient.

Dan

[Distance_Guru]

I've never been a fan of non-conventional distances. Unless of coarse you condsider the Mile an unconventional distance. I have always felt that running events like a 150 doesn't make a lot of since. I'd rather see two athletes race over both a 100 and a 200 over a series of meets and the athlete with the best combined time wins. I can't remember the set up of the Bailey/Johnson 150 that took place a few years ago. I think that if they put a curve in the race the 200 runner has the advantage if they run it all on the strait then the better 100 runner would have an edge. Of coarse if one of the athletes pulls up the show is ruined (I'm looking at you MJ).
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Time is the fire in which we burn

[Dan]

They ran it partially on a curve. I think it was 75m curve, 75m straight, but I'm not positive.

There are enough quality cross-over 100/200 sprinters that I don't think the curve is nearly as a big a factor as a lot of people made it out to be. Just because a 100m specialist doesn't run a race on the curve doesn't mean they're not capable of it. They may still be the best runner if the 100m was run on a curve... The reason they run the 100m is not because it's on the straight, rather that it's the best distance for them. Average out the distance of the two short sprints and suddenly you have what should be a wide open and very competitive event.

Furthermore, Bailey absolutely ate up MJ on the curve in their match race. Some people justified that by saying of course Bailey would catch up early -- he's the power sprinter. (As an aside, I figured Bailey would hold form through 120-130m, then it would get interesting.) However, people forget that when MJ obliterated the field with his 19.32, he did most of the damage on the turn against two of the fastest 100m men ever in Fredericks and Boldon, so he clearly had the speed to get out with the power sprinters. In other words, Bailey simply out ran him.

Dan

[Conway]

Oddly enough they did put a curve in the race and the 200 runner pulled up (and the 100 runner WAS leading) ... I wouldn't mind seeing some odd distances in an attempt at getting athletes together from different disciplines ... 150 would be fine ... 300 would be ok I think ... 1,000 would be a compromise ... As a matter of fact now that I think about it you could put together a Match Race meet ... Although Dan I think the money would have be a bit better than usual appearance fees ... Not as ridiculous as the Johnson/Bailey race, but unfortunately athletes don't seem to race for fun anymore ... But how about:

Mo vs Gatlin @ 150
ElG vs Geb @ 3,000
Kenteris vs Taylor @ 300

Just a few off the top of my head ... Could be a lot of fun and a big draw ... Something we could do in the US maybe ??? Instead of the Stanford meet the way it has been run ... A way to draw big name athletes to the states for the pre European tune up perhaps ????

[Distance_Guru]

You're probably right in all aspects. However I'm still not a big fan of unconventional distances. I just don't think that just because one runner is the best 100 meter runner in the world and another is the best 200 runner in the world that one of them is going to be the best 150 runner in the world. And really did Bailey beating up on MJ move him up on the list of all time greatest sprinters? Did it tarnish the domination that Johnson had over the 200 and 400 in the long run? It didn't in my mind. Now if it had happened in a 200 in a standard meet then my opinion would probably be different.

I always think it's funny when these dual races or even races that everyone assumes are going to be two man races don't pan out. Like Johnson pulling up and then claiming he tweeked his quad against Bailey. And I laughed my tail off when both MJ and Mo pulled up in the 200 at the trails. Which was supposed to be to see who the best American sprinter was, with all the hype and trach talking that went along with it. I much perfer races like this years London marathon where the best in the world show up at a real race with a standard distance and get out there and race and it actually turns into a race.
_________________
Time is the fire in which we burn

[Conway]

I gotta tell ya, I was a the trials (and have been to a few) there was more electricity in the air for THAT RACE than I have seen in a long long time ... The race was at the end of the Trials which is a little over a week long ... On the first couple of days when the 100 rounds and final were held, along with the 400 rounds, people were already talking about the race ... The 100 and 400 were being watched to gague the athletes fitness .. Even distance types were looking at the 100 & 400 to see how well they thought these guys were going to do against each other ...

and when the end of the week came the crowd was in a frenzy !!! Each round had people on their feet ... And when the race itself was run you could feel hair standing on people's heads ...

Now why do I say all of this ??? Becasue I think it was awesome for the sport .. Now the sad part is that BOTH guys pulled up lame ... But the excitement it generated couldn't be bought with a Brinks truck full of money ... Even the other athletes were hyped - mostly becasue they wanted to show THEY belonged in the race too ... And think about this ... Even though the two stars didn't finish, we STILL had 3 guys run under 20.00 !!!! Competition is what its supposed ot be about and that brought competition to the forefront ...

And as for trash tak, it was the first time I had heard distance people talking trash at a track meet ... Now THAT was excitement !!!!!

[Micah Ward]

My daughter would say it is because women are better runners than men.

But what does she know?

Look who she has for a father!

[Dan]

Wow, looks like we need to invite another trash talking Ward to the forums!

Dan

[Conway]

Well, her vision might be a little skewed ... Her father being who he is and all, but that sounds like a good idea ... Would be ince ot have a different type of opinion ...

[Micah Ward]

I would love to have the little chowderhead join us on the forum!!!

I will invite her, but since she is taking a physics course this summer and working at a physical therapy clinic I doubt she will have the time for the likes of us.

I could threaten to take her out of the will....