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Elite Athletics Thread

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Derby Tup
Derby Tup
Oct 2024
4:25pm, 14 Oct 2024
68,356 posts
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Derby Tup
Male pacers and some more right good juice and they’ll be flying for sure
SPR
SPR
Oct 2024
4:40pm, 14 Oct 2024
46,440 posts
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SPR
I'd hate to see male pacing in elite track races. It does happen in smaller races though. It's a bit different from road as technically it's a mixed race on road (same start time) rather than men in women's races which is what would happen on track.
Velociraptor
Velociraptor
Oct 2024
4:46pm, 14 Oct 2024
71,458 posts
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Velociraptor
I'm trying to imagine a women's 1500m race on the track with two or three blokes thrown into the mix :-O
paulcook
paulcook
Oct 2024
4:47pm, 14 Oct 2024
6,705 posts
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paulcook
I definitely wasn't advocating for it - I'm not even the biggest fan of the idea of the pacing / guide lights on the track. It was more a thinking out loud idea, rather similar to Eliud Kipchoge's "illegal" pacing for the sub-2. Kipchoge ran the time himself but in conditions he wouldn't otherwise have been able to; ditto Chepngetich yesterday; and theoretically ditto in track.

But I think part of the reason I hypothesised it, would be the list of percentage differences above aren't all done under the same conditions.
SPR
SPR
Oct 2024
4:53pm, 14 Oct 2024
46,441 posts
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SPR
Hassan's womens only record is around the 10% margin.

Clearly the pacing strategy yesterday would make it even tougher to have female pacers and those that are capable would likely want to run themselves. That's where the depth for the men helps in a way.
Velociraptor
Velociraptor
Oct 2024
4:54pm, 14 Oct 2024
71,459 posts
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Velociraptor
I got what you meant and I agree, @paulcook :)

I remember the controversy about Paula Radcliffe having male pacers for her world record attempt in 2003, with London having separate men's and women's elite races. It's another area where athletes are bound to try to sail as close to the wind as they can.
jda
jda
Oct 2024
7:54pm, 14 Oct 2024
17,934 posts
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jda
I’m sure two big male pacers running side by side in front of a slight woman could have been worth a minute compared to an unpaced race. Ie two secs per mile.
SPR
SPR
Oct 2024
8:23pm, 14 Oct 2024
46,444 posts
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SPR
I got mixed up, the women's only record is 2:16:16 from London this year. That's not a big move forward but I expect most races have males pacers.
larkim
larkim
Oct 2024
7:03am, 15 Oct 2024
25,819 posts
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larkim
It was extreme compared to the two pacers allowed, but Kipchoge's sub 2 with pacers being fresher and running the whole distance made a substantial difference. Would make equal sense to equate a chunk of the weekends record to pacing benefit too.
runnerbean
runnerbean
Oct 2024
1:46pm, 20 Oct 2024
47,328 posts
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runnerbean
Toronto waterfront marathon live now on YouTube

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