The art of racing

[williamwindhamjr]

Prefontaine had it, Mary Decker Slaney had it,Said Aouita,being able to race.It didnt make a difference if the pace wa fast or slow.I believe you can be taught great racing tatics,but it helps if you are taught at a young age about competition and competing.The africans are masters at this.They each take turns until the best man wins.German seems to have good racing chops also.

[Daisy]

Re: The art of racing

Prefontaine had it

I never followed Pre's career but I thought he was a front runner. Is there an art to front running?

As to pure racing, I always liked to watch Ovett, especially if he got boxed in.

Another great racer was Alberto Cova who always seemed to time his races right.

[ed gee]

Re: The art of racing

Based on what?

German seems to have good racing chops also.

[BCBaroo]

Re: The art of racing

Based on what?

German seems to have good racing chops also.

William has a crush on German. That's all.

[williamwindhamjr]

This is called the track and field forum,not the idiot forum BC.German does have good racing skills or did you not see the Big 12 race where he ran 3:55 and second place was 4:05 or the USA XC trials.

[williamwindhamjr]

It is harder I think to run from the front because you are setting the pace,and risk running out of gas while others sit back and wait.Very few runners can run up front from start to finnish,but it is an art in itself if you can.

[Daisy]

Very few runners can run up front from start to finnish

Is this why Pre never caught Viren at the end? :P

It is harder I think to run from the front because you are setting the pace,.......but it is an art in itself if you can.

This is pacing, not racing, right? Maybe a subtle difference but for me racing is more than being a great front runner. Its about being great off any pace from any place.

[marknhj]

This is called the track and field forum,not the idiot forum BC.German does have good racing skills or did you not see the Big 12 race where he ran 3:55 and second place was 4:05 or the USA XC trials.

That first sentence is pretty funny....

However, I'm curious to hear which racing skills you feel German demonstrated with his Big 12 victory. To me it seems he could simply run ten seconds faster than the second guy, so did. Am I missing something?

[BCBaroo]

This is called the track and field forum,not the idiot forum BC.German does have good racing skills or did you not see the Big 12 race where he ran 3:55 and second place was 4:05 or the USA XC trials.

It's also supposed to be fun. Settle down.

No I didn't "see" the race. But I know that winning a race by nearly 10 seconds means you're a stud, it doesn't mean you've got incredible race savvy yet.

I also know that seemingly well over half of your posts refer in some manner to German, and his 3:55 thus the crush comment.

If that makes me an idiot well, then so be it.

[AthleticsInBritain]

The art of racing is, as one coach put it: "run faster than the other guys".

[BCBaroo]

The art of racing is, as one coach put it: "run faster than the other guys".

Yep. That's art all right.

[STL_Runner]

This is called the track and field forum,not the idiot forum BC.German does have good racing skills or did you not see the Big 12 race where he ran 3:55 and second place was 4:05 or the USA XC trials.

Winning a race by 10 seconds against clearly inferior competition means you've learned the art of racing? If you're a troll, you're not doing a very good job. If you're not, I apologize, and feel sorry for you and all of your English teachers.

[jeremyp]

To me the "art" of racing has to do with your skills. Herb Elliot had no "art." He simply went out fast and dared anyone to cach him. Similarly ElG took off with 6-700 m to go and dared anyone to keep up. No "art" there: simply raw power.

Then you have someone like Borzakovsky who has little "art" but a lot of wasted talent. If he would learn to stay in 3d or fourth until 100 out he would win more races. Kipketer, on the other hand, had the power to lead early and was too strong to be caught.

The 800/1500 races are the races in which tactics are most important. Knowing when to kick, knowing how to stay out of being blocked, running your strength. But it's when runners are evenly skilled that "art" comes in. When Lagat ran 2d. to ElG forever, he was simply not quite as strong, and no amount of "art" would have helped him. Until 2004! When he was finally equal to him and -according to him - started his kick in the OG jst a little too early.

Pre had no "art." Against US runners he was simply too strong, and against the best of the rest, he wasn't strong enough.

[catson52]

Re: The art of racing

Prefontaine had it, Mary Decker Slaney had it,Said Aouita,being able to race.It didnt make a difference if the pace wa fast or slow.I believe you can be taught great racing tatics,but it helps if you are taught at a young age about competition and competing.The africans are masters at this.They each take turns until the best man wins.German seems to have good racing chops also.

As noted in another posting, the final idea is to win, i.e. run faster than your opponents. Though the duration of his career was short, nobody exemplified this better than Herb Elliott. Run whichever way you will, he will beat you to the tape.
Perhaps most illustrative is the 1959 race in Brisbane against Merv Lincoln. Elliott smoked on the bus out to stadium, was seemingly not fit, but yet again destroyed Lincoln in the final stages. It would appear this defeat was the final psychological blow to Lincoln. Question: How great would Lincoln have been, if Elliott had not been around at the same time?

[ed gee]

I suspect Lincoln would have been second to someone else.