Favorite Track and Field Event and Why

[CP87]

Go to the Drake Relays. That place can get rocking when there is a big race or big name involved.

Yeah, I have been, and I have coached kids competing there. High-level T&F is super-compelling. But as you know, not all meets are Drake (or the state meet). I just really love the sport, and I am worried that they are too afraid of making changes to continue to attract kids.

I think a lot of parents are getting sick of the idea of shelling out thousands for their kids to be on an "elite" travel team for [insert team sport here]. I think that will push kids away from team sports, and I think that creates a huge opportunity for things like T&F, cross-country, cycling, etc. But you have to be proactive to take advantage of that opportunity.

 

[CP87]

For me, the quarter was easy. It hurt alot, but there was nothing mental about it. I was a middle distance guy so I just basically ran about as fast as I could for 50 seconds or so. Nothing mental or strategic. Just pain.

The half is the hardest race in track, IMHO. Its not fast enough to be a sprint and not slow enough to settle in as a pace race. It can go out like a sprint or a mile and then reverse on the second lap. You cannot fall asleep and have to focus on the pace of the pack. And, it hurts like a mother.

As you noted, there are so many relays with at least one 800 leg, so I got to run a lot of relays, especially in college. I usually ran all four distance relays in college and loved it. Relays are more fun to me than individual events.

I was mostly a jumper, and a potential utility leg to fill out a relay. Definitely not fast. I remember thinking running an 800m wouldn't be too bad, they didn't seem to be going that fast. Our team did a fun indoor heptathlon thing one winter, and I actually got a chance to run an 800m. My willpower gave out SO fast. It give me a whole new appreciation for the mid-distance crew.

 

[#1DieHardHawk]

I was a sprinter in HS and one year of college, primarily the 60, 100 and 200, and the 4x100. To this day, I still catch track events, especially the Olympic trials.

It's been about a year, but I used to regularly go over to a nearby high school and run sprints for exercise. True sprinting is an excellent choice, as it engages all of the major muscle groups and isn't nearly as hard on your joints as jogging. I'm 59, so I've got to be careful. A couple of years ago, I was thinking about participating in some age-level competitions so I started to step things up in terms of intensity. Twice, I tore my adductors resulting in massive bruising of my thigh and groin.

The 100m is my favorite event, but the 4x100 and 4x200 are right there. For the US squad, the relays have been very frustrating the last several years. We've had major repeated handoff issues with the men that the coaches just can't seem to fix. It's almost become a self-fulfilling prophecy at this point.

And, I concur with others - the 800 is a ridiculously hard event. Brutal.

 

[Fryowa]

There are districts, and you have to win your district True Team meet to make the state True Team meet.

Ahhh gotcha. That makes sense now. There are a lot of schools where I'm at in western Iowa who kind of specialize in one or two areas and let the rest fall off. I get it if you have low numbers because you need to stack what events you can in order to be competitive in meets. But if you're a bigger school it kind of feels like cheating to go win the state meet because you had 3 guys who were studs and didn't even qualify anyone else.

I like that True Team idea.

 

[Fryowa]

I feel like an imposter in this thread, lol. I geek out over T&F and follow it pretty closely at the IA high school and international levels, but I was terrible at it in school. Most of you guys were college runners it sounds like.

 

[Fryowa]

I was a sprinter in HS and one year of college, primarily the 60, 100 and 200, and the 4x100. To this day, I still catch track events, especially the Olympic trials.

It's been about a year, but I used to regularly go over to a nearby high school and run sprints for exercise. True sprinting is an excellent choice, as it engages all of the major muscle groups and isn't nearly as hard on your joints as jogging. I'm 59, so I've got to be careful. A couple of years ago, I was thinking about participating in some age-level competitions so I started to step things up in terms of intensity. Twice, I tore my adductors resulting in massive bruising of my thigh and groin.

The 100m is my favorite event, but the 4x100 and 4x200 are right there. For the US squad, the relays have been very frustrating the last several years. We've had major repeated handoff issues with the men that the coaches just can't seem to fix. It's almost become a self-fulfilling prophecy at this point.

And, I concur with others - the 800 is a ridiculously hard event. Brutal.

My son hates sprints. He's meh on the 800 (runs that leg in the DMR), loves 16 and 32's. I can't figure it out because to me it'd be more fun to suffer for 20 seconds to a minute, but he'd rather do distance stuff. He got his start in XC and that's still his best sport by far, so that may be some of it.

 

[Fryowa]

Yeah, I have been, and I have coached kids competing there. High-level T&F is super-compelling. But as you know, not all meets are Drake (or the state meet). I just really love the sport, and I am worried that they are too afraid of making changes to continue to attract kids.

I think a lot of parents are getting sick of the idea of shelling out thousands for their kids to be on an "elite" travel team for [insert team sport here]. I think that will push kids away from team sports, and I think that creates a huge opportunity for things like T&F, cross-country, cycling, etc. But you have to be proactive to take advantage of that opportunity.

We have that problem here. West Lyon when I was growing up (produced LeVar Woods and Kyle VandenBosch among others when I was in HS) always had the best track and field teams by far. Their athleticism was off the charts and it showed in every sport. And everyone played every sport. LeVar and VandenBosch (and several teammates) were either all conference or all state in basketball, football, baseball, and track, and had lots of good wrestling as well. It permeated through their whole sports program. Now they're pretty terrible in track which is crazy to me because they're still ridiculously good at baseball., basketball, and football. But the best players in those 3 sports specialize in them and train year round in it.

Prety sad if you ask me. West Lyon isn't the only one, to be fair. And a lot of times if you want to be a college athlete in a ball sport, the high school level has gotten so freaking good in all three that you almost have to pick a sport and train year round. You aren't going to make a D2 or D1 baseball team these days unless you're a year round player and the same holds true for basketball.

 

[CP87]

I feel like an imposter in this thread, lol. I geek out over T&F and follow it pretty closely at the IA high school and international levels, but I was terrible at it in school. Most of you guys were college runners it sounds like.

Likewise

 

[#1DieHardHawk]

My son hates sprints. He's meh on the 800 (runs that leg in the DMR), loves 16 and 32's. I can't figure it out because to me it'd be more fun to suffer for 20 seconds to a minute, but he'd rather do distance stuff. He got his start in XC and that's still his best sport by far, so that may be some of it.

Yeah, sprinting in terms of competition is not for everyone. While just about anyone can work on endurance and become more and more competitive in distance running, true sprinting is more innate. You either have it or you don't. If you don't, there's no point in force-feeding it.

From an exercise standpoint, though, it's a really good choice for just about everybody with decent joints and balance.

 

[Dadman]

I feel like an imposter in this thread, lol. I geek out over T&F and follow it pretty closely at the IA high school and international levels, but I was terrible at it in school. Most of you guys were college runners it sounds like.

High school. Not anywhere good enough for college. Both sprints and distance. XC too. Couldn’t do hurdles though. As long as my legs were firmly grounded they were just fine!

 

[Fryowa]

Yeah, sprinting in terms of competition is not for everyone. While just about anyone can work on endurance and become more and more competitive in distance running, true sprinting is more innate. You either have it or you don't. If you don't, there's no point in force-feeding it.

From an exercise standpoint, though, it's a really good choice for just about everybody with decent joints and balance.

Yeah I think there's a definite tipping point for some people genetically when it comes to different kinds of athleticism. Like some people could train from the time they were 5 years old in every way possible to say, dunk a basketball, but they could never do it. And I'm talking even beyond body composition like being fat, short, weak, etc. Some folks just don't have the combination of muscle mass, fast/slow twitch, strength, flexibility, etc. Some people could never run a sub 4:45 mile and some could never run a 10.95 100m no matter what they do. It's being able to put the genetics together with crazy amounts of hard work that takes you to the next level.

 

[NorthKCHawk]

I feel like an imposter in this thread, lol. I geek out over T&F and follow it pretty closely at the IA high school and international levels, but I was terrible at it in school. Most of you guys were college runners it sounds like.

I wanted to play football in college but I weighed 145 pounds my senior year so that was not an option. I was pretty good in track and got a small scholarship to run in circles for 4 years. My freshmen year our assistant coach told me that I ran like a wrestler, and he did not mean that as a compliment. LOL. I got stronger and better and frankly just outworked more natural athletes. But, by my junior year I had gotten as far as I was going to get with the body god gave me, which was still a pretty good but not great Division II half miler. I am glad I ran in college, but after the conference meet my senior year I was done with track. I don't miss the training or the pain.

 

[Fryowa]

Any of you guys from out of state ever pole vaulted? I grew up in Iowa which is one of the states that doesn't have it so I don't have much exposure, but that shit looks terrifying to me. The only real time I get to see it in person is when my son goes out of state to South Dakota meets. Saw a kid bite the dust this year at the Dan Lennon invitational at USD this year. I get goosebumps every frickin time they plant that thing in the ground.

 

[NorthKCHawk]

Any of you guys from out of state ever pole vaulted? I grew up in Iowa which is one of the states that doesn't have it so I don't have much exposure, but that shit looks terrifying to me. The only real time I get to see it in person is when my son goes out of state to South Dakota meets. Saw a kid bite the dust this year at the Dan Lennon invitational at USD this year. I get goosebumps every frickin time they plant that thing in the ground.

Sorry to be macabre, but my senior year in college at the Sioux City relays an SDSU pole vaulter went wide, missed the mat and landed head first in lane one of the backstretch. I have vivid memories of our trainer performing CPR on the kid. He died on the spot. I also remember that they were doing hurdles or something on the front stretch and just kept going even as they loaded the kid into the ambulance. SDSU went home, but the rest of the meet kept going to conclusion. Not sure that would happen today.

So, that is a shitty way of agreeing with you, Fry, that it looks scary to me too, but I sure enjoyed watching it.

 

[#1DieHardHawk]

Our pole vaulter in DIII ended up with a compound fracture during a meet. Still recall helping him over to the bench area. Not my cup of tea.

I always envisioned the pole nailing me straight in the crotch coming down. I don't know if that has ever happened, but always had that vision in my head. No thanks.

 

[NorthKCHawk]

Our pole vaulter in DIII ended up with a compound fracture during a meet. Still recall helping him over to the bench area. Not my cup of tea.

I always envisioned the pole nailing me straight in the crotch coming down. I don't know if that has ever happened, but always had that vision in my head. No thanks.

Youtube Poll Vaulting Accidents. Worse than nut shots occur.

Do you remember that official at the Olympics who was officiating the javelin, and he was not paying attention and got speared by the javelin, pulled it out and stuck it into the ground?

 

[#1DieHardHawk]

Youtube Poll Vaulting Accidents. Worse than nut shots occur.

Do you remember that official at the Olympics who was officiating the javelin, and he was not paying attention and got speared by the javelin, pulled it out and stuck it into the ground?

I do vaguely recall that. Freaky stuff happens in sports, that's for sure.

I'm not sure I really want to see those videos. Yikes. I already see enough strange shit in my profession.

 

[Fryowa]

Sorry to be macabre, but my senior year in college at the Sioux City relays an SDSU pole vaulter went wide, missed the mat and landed head first in lane one of the backstretch. I have vivid memories of our trainer performing CPR on the kid. He died on the spot. I also remember that they were doing hurdles or something on the front stretch and just kept going even as they loaded the kid into the ambulance. SDSU went home, but the rest of the meet kept going to conclusion. Not sure that would happen today.

So, that is a shitty way of agreeing with you, Fry, that it looks scary to me too, but I sure enjoyed watching it.

Damn. I looked and it was ‘93, I would’ve been in 6th grade.

I also just spent last Saturday at the Sioux City relays watching my kid and a few of his teammates run. They don’t pole vault there anymore. Crazy to think someone died there.

 

[Northside Hawk]

Any of you guys from out of state ever pole vaulted? I grew up in Iowa which is one of the states that doesn't have it so I don't have much exposure, but that shit looks terrifying to me. The only real time I get to see it in person is when my son goes out of state to South Dakota meets. Saw a kid bite the dust this year at the Dan Lennon invitational at USD this year. I get goosebumps every frickin time they plant that thing in the ground.

I wasn't there, but about ten years ago a Wisconsin female hurdler tripped over one and compound fractured her femur. Her stride got out of whack, and all the landing force that normally would have been absorbed by her foot was transfered straight to her upper thigh.

Hurdles scare me, and thank God none of my three kids did those races or were asked to do so. As for the pole vault I've never seen an incident there. They do cancel the event if the winds are strong enough.

 

[Fryowa]

I wasn't there, but about ten years ago a Wisconsin female hurdler tripped over one and compound fractured her femur. Her stride got out of whack, and all the landing force that normally would have been absorbed by her foot was transfered straight to her upper thigh.

Hurdles scare me, and thank God none of my three kids did those races or were asked to do so. As for the pole vault I've never seen an incident there. They do cancel the event if the winds are strong enough.

Steeplechase also makes me cringe every time they go into the water. I always think they’re going to jam a knee or slip and crash when they land.