Favorite Track and Field Event and Why

Fryowa said:
Is anyone going to be at the state track meet this weekend?
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I can tell you that I watched and listened to a greater portion of it via the internet.

Saw Doll smoke the field numerous times and a bunch of other records were set by others. (was a great meet)
ADM broke the all time 4 x 200 @ 1:25.55!

Brownlee from Clear Lake broke records in both the 3A long jump and 400 M hurdles for girls.
Only a junior.

The SP and Discus gal from my hometown of Hampton (Morton) won her 2nd straight 3A titles.
She also won Drake again (both) Also only a junior.
 
Hawkfnntn said:
Yeah I was one of the 3 fastest guys growing up between us any given day we could all outrun each other through junior high. Only one of us ended up doing any track at all. Once we got into HS I wasn't even close to being the fastest guy anymore I was more quick then fast as a smaller guy.

We just weren't a track school at all. Our small school ran on one of those black coal colored rock tracks. I don't even know what that surface even is but it was literally a loose gravel surface I really did love baseball more and once the weather broke and was nice enough to be out doing that I was absolutely doing that instead with my bro and our buddies
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I ran 800s in highschool. Our track was made up of those hideous red cinders. Sometimes the rain water didn't drain properly and it became a sloppy mess. I could never best 2:12....until...my senior year....

We ran at North Tama that had a unique (at that that) rubberized all weather track. We switched to the smaller spikes and I managed a 2:07 running the lead of the 4 x 800. What a difference it made.

Brief edit: Back in the 70s, I actually ran the 880 yd events. I was absolutely in the best shape of my life and yet every 880 race/event, whether I was leading off the 4 x 880 or the open, was agony.
 
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Seth53 said:
I ran 800s in highschool. Our track was made up of those hideous red cinders. Sometimes the rain water didn't drain properly and it became a sloppy mess. I could never best 2:12....until...my senior year....

We ran at North Tama that had a unique (at that that) rubberized all weather track. We switched to the smaller spikes and I managed a 2:07 running the lead of the 4 x 800. What a difference it made.
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Cherokee high school had cinder when I was in high school. Saw one of my teammates wipe out after clipping the last 110 hurdle going full speed, and you’ve never seen such incredible road rash. He looked like he laid a motorcycle over doing 80 mph.

My folks couldn’t afford spikes so I ran in generic Pamida high tops which didn’t help negotiate corners. I felt like a dog on hardwood floors. Mind you, I was a terrible runner and spikes would not have made me competitive. Not an excuse.
 
Seth53 said:
I ran 800s in highschool. Our track was made up of those hideous red cinders. Sometimes the rain water didn't drain properly and it became a sloppy mess. I could never best 2:12....until...my senior year....

We ran at North Tama that had a unique (at that that) rubberized all weather track. We switched to the smaller spikes and I managed a 2:07 running the lead of the 4 x 800. What a difference it made.
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My son ran his first sub 10:00 3200 this year and got down to a 4:31 mile…I tried running that pace on a treadmill the other day (I’m 43) and almost couldn’t stay on my feet. How anyone does 8 laps of it in a row is beyond me
 
Fryowa said:
Cherokee high school had cinder when I was in high school. Saw one of my teammates wipe out after clipping the last 110 hurdle going full speed, and you’ve never seen such incredible road rash. He looked like he laid a motorcycle over doing 80 mph.

My folks couldn’t afford spikes so I ran in generic Pamida high tops which didn’t help negotiate corners. I felt like a dog on hardwood floors. Mind you, I was a terrible runner and spikes would not have made me competitive. Not an excuse.
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Fryowa said:
My son ran his first sub 10:00 3200 this year and got down to a 4:31 mile…I tried running that pace on a treadmill the other day (I’m 43) and almost couldn’t stay on my feet. How anyone does 8 laps of it in a row is beyond me
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It looks so easy...and then you try it.

I was at Drake one year when they had one of the top 5k guys in the world running (they always have a signature event with elite international talent). You have to see that in-person to appreciate just how fast they are going. This dude started his kick to drop the rest of the pack with about 2.5 laps to go, and being there close to the rail, it looked like an all-out sprint for 1000m.
 
CP87 said:
It looks so easy...and then you try it.

I was at Drake one year when they had one of the top 5k guys in the world running (they always have a signature event with elite international talent). You have to see that in-person to appreciate just how fast they are going. This dude started his kick to drop the rest of the pack with about 2.5 laps to go, and being there close to the rail, it looked like an all-out sprint for 1000m.
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It's bonkers.

The world record marathon pace is 4:35. Imagine running a 4:35 mile 26.1 times in a row without stopping.

Sometimes when I watch my kid run against really good talent there are times in the mile or two mile where I catch myself thinking, "Come on...that kid is just ten feet ahead of you, dig deep and pass him..." And then I thankfully snap back to reality and realize how deep any kid running a mid-four minute mile is digging. It looks so easy when you're just watching.
 
My third cousin or something (mom's cousin's daughter) made the Olympic team in the 10,000 meters. Got in an as alternate and got dead last in the event but I'm still proud as hell of her. She's fast as hell.
 
Fryowa said:
It's bonkers.

The world record marathon pace is 4:35. Imagine running a 4:35 mile 26.1 times in a row without stopping.

Sometimes when I watch my kid run against really good talent there are times in the mile or two mile where I catch myself thinking, "Come on...that kid is just ten feet ahead of you, dig deep and pass him..." And then I thankfully snap back to reality and realize how deep any kid running a mid-four minute mile is digging. It looks so easy when you're just watching.
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There's a huge running and biking contingent here because there are training opportunities with thin air if you get just a bit north and training opportunities with blistering humidity and heat if you go just a bit south (people who know that shit claim it is a better training environment than the West because of the heat and humidity here). There's a famous local kid who got an invite to the Olympic tryout this year and my son and I got lapped by him at a road race last year. I honestly wouldn't be able to keep up with his pace for more than maybe 20 yards and even then I'm not totally sure I could match him even if I flat out sprinted while he was running his normal 4:30-4:45 pace. You can't appreciate it until you see it up close.
 
okeefe4prez said:
There's a huge running and biking contingent here because there are training opportunities with thin air if you get just a bit north and training opportunities with blistering humidity and heat if you go just a bit south (people who know that shit claim it is a better training environment than the West because of the heat and humidity here). There's a famous local kid who got an invite to the Olympic tryout this year and my son and I got lapped by him at a road race last year. I honestly wouldn't be able to keep up with his pace for more than maybe 20 yards and even then I'm not totally sure I could match him even if I flat out sprinted while he was running his normal 4:30-4:45 pace. You can't appreciate it until you see it up close.
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CP87 said:
www.youtube.com

Run ONE Lap At Kipchoge Pace And WIN £50 | WR Marathon Speed Challenge

We challenged people to run JUST ONE LAP of a track at the pace Eliud Kipchoge runs a marathon. If they can, they win!Join to get access to the Podcast:https...
www.youtube.com www.youtube.com
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To put it other terms for sprinters, the world record marathon pace is 1:09 for a 400m dash (one lap around a track). Most very fit people can't run 1:09 in the 400m even once at max effort. WR marathon is more than 42 of those in a row. The average fit runner can even do a minute of that pace, let alone 2 hours straight.

Or there's the context everyone can relate to. Put a treadmill at 13.1 miles per hour and keep it there for the entire length of the movie A River Runs Through It including credits.
 
Fryowa said:
To put it other terms for sprinters, the world record marathon pace is 1:09 for a 400m dash (one lap around a track). Most very fit people can't run 1:09 in the 400m even once at max effort. WR marathon is more than 42 of those in a row. The average fit runner can even do a minute of that pace, let alone 2 hours straight.

Or there's the context everyone can relate to. Put a treadmill at 13.1 miles per hour and keep it there for the entire length of the movie A River Runs Through It including credits.
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Two years ago my cocky 8th grader, who is not a track kid, but just ran the mile in PE, said he could whoop the old man in a 400 meter race. I accepted the challenge, fully aware I had not run a competitive quarter in a couple decades and I am an entrenched jogger these days. Nonetheless, we showed up at the local middle school track, I stretched and warmed up like the old days while he scoffed at me, and we were off. He got out fast and it was all I could do to keep contact with him through 200, but I could see him coming back to me. I reeled him in on the front stretch and felt his defeat as I powered past him. I gave it everything I had and I ran EXACTLY 69 seconds. I had to be helped to the car.

So yea, world class distance runners are not of this Earth.
 
NorthKCHawk said:
Two years ago my cocky 8th grader, who is not a track kid, but just ran the mile in PE, said he could whoop the old man in a 400 meter race. I accepted the challenge, fully aware I had not run a competitive quarter in a couple decades and I am an entrenched jogger these days. Nonetheless, we showed up at the local middle school track, I stretched and warmed up like the old days while he scoffed at me, and we were off. He got out fast and it was all I could do to keep contact with him through 200, but I could see him coming back to me. I reeled him in on the front stretch and felt his defeat as I powered past him. I gave it everything I had and I ran EXACTLY 69 seconds. I had to be helped to the car.

So yea, world class distance runners are not of this Earth.
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Mine is 4:30 ish in the mile but I've always told him I could still beat him in a sprint. He laughs at me like I'm an idiot.

Up until last thanksgiving I told him in front of a bunch of family that I'd beat him from one end of the block to the other. Then the other day I put my treadmill at a 4:30 pace to see what it was like. I can barely get going that fast, let alone for more than a few seconds, and I'm in fairly decent shape. I am now pretty sure he would be taunting me the entire city block and not even close to out of breath at the end. I will no longer be making wild claims in front of people. How kids do that for 1600 meters is beyond me. I'd have a stroke and heart attack at the same time.
 
Fryowa said:
Mine is 4:30 ish in the mile but I've always told him I could still beat him in a sprint. He laughs at me like I'm an idiot.

Up until last thanksgiving I told him in front of a bunch of family that I'd beat him from one end of the block to the other. Then the other day I put my treadmill at a 4:30 pace to see what it was like. I can barely get going that fast, let alone for more than a few seconds, and I'm in fairly decent shape. I am now pretty sure he would be taunting me the entire city block and not even close to out of breath at the end. I will no longer be making wild claims in front of people. How kids do that for 1600 meters is beyond me. I'd have a stroke and heart attack at the same time.
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And let's not forget these kids often double or triple up, running the 800, 1600, 3200 in the same meet.
And a relay leg somewhere in there to boot.
 
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