Lagat declares in the 800

[EPelle]

I also agree about the ability, much the same way about El Guerrouj, who closed faster in Athens than his lifetime best was in the open.

Interestingly enough, El G's 3.48,69y at the 1995 Weltklasse -- his first sub-3.50 -- was run on a 1.47,18 PB earlier that season along with a 2.16,85 (1.49,48 pace).

Comparatively, Lagat, El G and Webb were each competitive between 3.48,38y - 3.48,69y - 3.48,92y with 1.47,07 - 1.47,13 - 1.47,18 SB's.

Fascinating coincidence.

Finally, the year Lagat ran his 1.500m and mile PBs, he contested no 800m runs and had a 13.30,54 early-season best. Now he's at 13.03,06 with a 3.36,38 SB and going back down to the 800m.

[guruof track]

Re: Good news for Webb

There is a slew of young guys that are getting pretty fast 3:36/3:37. With so many in the hunt, one of them could easily seek in during a Champs race, especially with Manzano and Webb being inconsistent and Lomong not having shown a strong list of performances so far.

Just curious who you think those young guys are??? I think some of the young guys can run 3:36/3:37 ins a one off raceor possibly a race that is VERY evenly paced. I highly doubt that will be the case at the Champs though.

SHould be interesting though.

[knite]

One would have to conclude that he was certainly in 1:45 shape though, even if he hadn't put one out there.

Geez, when you think about his career efforts, its quite fascinating, IMO.

[26mi235]

Re: Good news for Webb

There is a slew of young guys that are getting pretty fast 3:36/3:37. With so many in the hunt, one of them could easily seek in during a Champs race, especially with Manzano and Webb being inconsistent and Lomong not having shown a strong list of performances so far.

Just curious who you think those young guys are??? I think some of the young guys can run 3:36/3:37 ins a one off raceor possibly a race that is VERY evenly paced. I highly doubt that will be the case at the Champs though.

SHould be interesting though.

There are enough of them, from Centrowitz to Ulrey to Miller and Bolas,... that one of them might have an additional breakthrough. Is Centro over his foot problem? The rest might actual do him good, but I will note that almost all of the collegians have already had a long season with their training focused on peaking two weeks ago (except for a few, like a couple of UO guys and CU gal).

[joeltetreault]

Re: Good news for Webb

One stat that has not been mentioned is his 2:16.27 1000m from 2007 a few weeks before his 1500/5000 Osaka double. Using the IAAF scoring tables that comes out to about a 1:45.55 800....

[KevinM]

Re: Good news for Webb

One stat that has not been mentioned is his 2:16.27 1000m from 2007 a few weeks before his 1500/5000 Osaka double. Using the IAAF scoring tables that comes out to about a 1:45.55 800....

He also ran 2:16.18 last year in Gateshead. I'm not sure why this isn't listed on Pela's site.

[midnightsun]

well, if you think that his 1500PB/1.5 gives 2:17.5 per km you realize that 1000m was no monster performance from him.

Also, the fact that x time in the 1000 equates to y time in the 800 (according to the tables...) doesn't mean that his fitness level allows him to achieve y given x. More so since he's more geared towards 1500/3000/5000 so his shorter distances will suffer a little.

[15mph]

well, if you think that his 1500PB/1.5 gives 2:17.5 per km you realize that 1000m was no monster performance from him.

Also, the fact that x time in the 1000 equates to y time in the 800 (according to the tables...) doesn't mean that his fitness level allows him to achieve y given x. More so since he's more geared towards 1500/3000/5000 so his shorter distances will suffer a little.

Lamong did run a 3:53 mile this year. Until Webb gets out of his slump he is the top US miler when Lagat is not running. It would be painful to watch a 3:46 miler like Webb get beaten by a bunch of journeymen 3:37 runners. I am assuming the 3:55 mile Webb ran roughly a month ago would now translate to at least a 3:53. If he is just a few second faster that will make the difference.

[EPelle]

Webb may (or not) be faster at this point. One question of concern for both Webb and Lagat is their perceived ideas of how running rounds will affect their bodies before their respective finals, when it is assumed they will need to draw a line between themselves and 1.46 and 3.37 runners behind them.

Lagat may be worth "x" in the 800m in a one-off race where he is rather fresh and has an excellent condition set out to accomplish it. Has he, since running the Pac-10 800m 10 years ago, run an 800m round before another one in the same meet - or two 800m races in a short period of time? And, subsequently, has he had to run a final in a personal best after two earlier 800m races within a very confined period of time?

The answers to the above are a resounding, "no".

I don't wish Lagat any ill-will in his attempts to push the envelop, I just wonder if he has enough stamps in his wallet to get that postage home in time.