Simultaneous Shot Put

[Conor Dary]

Since no one, except perhaps kuha, took my suggestion, inspired by marknhj's observations, for the 'simultaneous shot put' seriously, I thought I would post it again.

I think it would be pretty fascinating: 12 behemoths lined up in a row and tossing their multi-colored orbs all at once. You would know instantly who is in the lead after each round.

Another suggestion: Why not have the 400 meters run with only a one turn stagger? After the first turn, break for the pole, just like the 800. You know right away who is in the lead, unlike the case now, where it isn't obvious who is in the lead until the final straight and by the then the race is usually over.

[hj197steve]

Re: Simultaneous Shot Put

Conor, I made a suggestion to have a one-tuen stagger in the 400 about 8 months, as IMHO the 400 as currently run, with a 2 turn stagger, is a very poor event for the spectators. At least in the 400 H you can eyeball when they go over the hurdles. So I say let 'em RIP that first 200 or so, get good position going into the 2nd turn, then come off the turn, fan out, and go for the line, just like in the 800 on up. Just maybe you'll end up with faster times as for sure you will have faster first 200's. When they hit the cones after the first turn, it's head-fr-the-pole time, just like in the 800. And they fans will love it. What is the downside on this idea ?

[abinferno]

Re: Simultaneous Shot Put

I think they should run a simultaneous long jump. Have two guys side by side charging down the runway together. I've always thought that would be interesting.

[Conor Dary]

Re: Simultaneous Shot Put

Hjsteve, I didn't see your earlier post by I am glad we agree on the principle. The 400 now is spectatorphobic. The only way to tell who is leading is paying attention to the staggers.
And on tv that is impossible to do.

As for my post of a 'simultaneous shot put' while half made in jest, the point is that track really needs to loosen up a bit. Track meets now just try to be a copy of the Olympics: same events, same format and so on, which obviously in this country isn't working very well.

There are a lot of ideas that could be used to lighten things up a bit. In high school we usually had a shot put relay that, while it didn't count in points, was always entertaining.

Another entertaining event was the old Devil-take-hindmost mile run. We did it once at the Potts Invitational in Boulder in 1985. The runners don't have to be that talented, just of the same ability. The 12 of us in the race all had PRs between 4:20 and 4:40, so the end result wasn't that fast, but the crowd got a huge kick out of it. If I remember right Morcelli once ran one in Los Angeles back around 1990 when he was attending a local Junior College.

[5k Guy]

Re: Simultaneous Shot Put

"old Devil-take-hindmost mile run"

I don't remember this one by name at least. Do tell, what was the jest of it?

Also, how about synchronized Javelin, would get it over faster so that more fans could follow it (although I wouldn't want to be in the infield for that one).

Or how about the women's 800m being run at the same time as the men's mile (smaller fields would be needed in each).

[trackstar]

Re: Simultaneous Shot Put

>I think they should run a simultaneous long jump. Have two guys side by side
>charging down the runway together. I've always thought that would be
>interesting.

You could do that at the University of Texas' Myers Stadium. They have side by side pits, and often conduct the men's and women's events simultaneously, especially at large meets like the state HS championships.

As for allowing 400 runners to break inside, they used to do that -- according to R.L. Quercetani's "Athletics," the most comprehensive history of t&f to my knowledge, the 400 around the turn of the century was not run in lanes at all.

Also, I've heard tell of -- perhaps in Finland -- exhibition events where javelinists threw for accuracy, rather than distance.

[Conor Dary]

Re: Simultaneous Shot Put

"old Devil-take-hindmost mile run"

I don't remember this one by name at least. Do tell, what was the jest of it?

As the name implies whoever is in last place at the end of each lap drops out. It is a fun race on an indoor track. When we did it in Boulder we had someone dressed up as a devil with a pitchfork and really had a lot of fun with it. However, it was one of the hardest races I ever ran. Since no one wants to go out first the initial laps can be pretty fast. But the crowd really loved it, even though the winning time was only 4:40.

[5k Guy]

Re: Simultaneous Shot Put

Now that would be interesting in an invitational GP race at say 1500, 5k or 10k. You wouldn't need a rabit. Would have to do it at say the kilos for the 10k.

[hj197steve]

Re: Simultaneous Shot Put

they do this type race a lot in Velodrome Cycling. It's neat there because the laps are only about 30 seconds. If there are X # of entrants, the race is then X-1 # of laps long... on the last lap, 2 remaining entrants duke it out.

[palladium]

Re: Simultaneous Shot Put

>Since no one, except perhaps kuha, took my suggestion, inspired by marknhj's
>observations, for the 'simultaneous shot put' seriously, I thought I would post
>it again.

I think it would be pretty fascinating: 12 behemoths lined up in
>a row and tossing their multi-colored orbs all at once. You would know
>instantly who is in the lead after each round.

Another suggestion: Why not
>have the 400 meters run with only a one turn stagger? After the first turn,
>break for the pole, just like the 800. You know right away who is in the lead,
>unlike the case now, where it isn't obvious who is in the lead until the final
>straight and by the then the race is usually over.

While we're at it, why don't we have a sharkpit around the high jump and pole vault mats. That would definitely bring more spectators to the sport.

But seriously, what are peoples' thoughts on a separated 5000 or 10000. All this talk about bringing the athletes closer together in the 400 (one-turn stagger), I think it would be cool to run separate 5000's on a 16 lane track. You'd give something like a 3 lap stagger to the athletes running in the outside 8 lanes, and set it up so that the two races (preferably 10 to 12 runners per race) met up with 400 to go. That would bring a totally new dimension to strategy. Instead of calling out split times every lap, the coach/official could call out split differential times between the two simultaneous races.

[steve]

Re: Simultaneous Shot Put

The simultaneous pole vault where part of the competition is the race to be the first plant the pole in the box...........you heard it here first.
Seriously though, I've always thought a one turn 400m stagger would be great. It would take some of the excitement that the 2nd and anchor legs of the 4X4 can have and would be a sprint race that required some pack strategy.

[az2]

Re: Simultaneous Shot Put

we want some excitement today don't we...

simultaneous hammer throws..

watch them judges run!!

a little blood wouldn't hurt much...

imagine the tv ratings!!

[Conor Dary]

Re: Simultaneous Shot Put

Another idea from the past is handicap races. These use to be very popular, especially when one runner is so much superior to the others in the field. Wooderson once ran a WR mile in a handicap race in 1937.

[Conor Dary]

Re: Simultaneous Shot Put

'simultaneous hammer throws..'

I think that is a little over the top. Sort of like a reality version of dodge-ball.

[palladium]

Re: Simultaneous Shot Put

>we want some excitement today don't we...

simultaneous hammer
>throws..

watch them judges run!!

a little blood wouldn't hurt
>much...

imagine the tv ratings!!

that's the right idea! i think we should have simultaneous pole vaults as well. You'd start the run-up to the mat a full 100 meters back. There'd be a starting gun and everything. There would be something like 3 or 4 pole vaulters running at top speeds from 100 out, and the first to actually plant the vault (and get over the bar) would win. body checking would be permitted; and in the event a competitor falls behind in the run-up to the mat, he/she can jab the other competitors from behind with the pole.