DFW running club mark 3!! ALL ARE WELCOME!!

beer_tins

Hmm, after reading the article again it does seems that it may be the fact that the mile isn't run as much any more. The top athletes only run at high profile events, none of which have the mile distance any more. As the article points out, modern stadium tracks are measured out over metric distances. I suppose after the "magic" 4 minute mile was broken, the intrigue in it fell away. A slight improvement on the record from 3:43 holds no more intrigue than a slight improvement on 3:26 over 1500m. In fact, the later will be the first to pass another "magic" milestone, even if not in our lifetimes.

Idiophreak

beer_tins wrote: »

The problem with common courtesy is that it's not so common anymore! It's not found much in London, at least not in central London in my experience.

Sadly true. As I posted the other day, 50% of people pretend they don't even see you, so the chances of them moving for you is pretty slim. Even those that will make eye contact seem to expect you to go round them - and few people thank you for doing so, even those on bikes. (and that explains why I ended up swearing at a policeman )

RichOneday_2

beer_tins wrote: »

Hmm, after reading the article again it does seems that it may be the fact that the mile isn't run as much any more. The top athletes only run at high profile events, none of which have the mile distance any more. As the article points out, modern stadium tracks are measured out over metric distances. I suppose after the "magic" 4 minute mile was broken, the intrigue in it fell away. A slight improvement on the record from 3:43 holds no more intrigue than a slight improvement on 3:26 over 1500m. In fact, the later will be the first to pass another "magic" milestone, even if not in our lifetimes.

Thats a bit of a misleading statement that they make about track measurements though, in fact a complete red herring! All tracks are marked out for mile races in just the same way as they are marked out for 1500m - its only a different start line!

Cant agree with the intrigue diminishing after the 4 minute mile was broken. The Walker/Coe/Aouita/Ovett/Cram/El Guerrouj eras all came way after the 4 minute barrier was smashed over a prolonged period.

The key element that seems to be missing is that there always used to be several guys vying for top dog when the records fell, as has happened in the marathon in the last few years. When the world number one is fairly comfortably ahead of the pack the records tend not to fall as easily.

The 2009 men's world leading time so far is 3:48.5, so 5 seconds off WR pace. The women's is 4:29.64 or 17 seconds off WR pace. Now that is surprising when the women's records are considered to be softer due to relative newness of the events.

Interestingly, the Oceania all time record holder at 3:48.98 is Craig Mottram who just happens to be the current parkrun record holder when he ran 14:00 at Bushy!

beer_tins

RichOneday wrote: »

Thats a bit of a misleading statement that they make about track measurements though, in fact a complete red herring! All tracks are marked out for mile races in just the same way as they are marked out for 1500m - its only a different start line!

Cant agree with the intrigue diminishing after the 4 minute mile was broken. The Walker/Coe/Aouita/Ovett/Cram/El Guerrouj eras all came way after the 4 minute barrier was smashed over a prolonged period.

The key element that seems to be missing is that there always used to be several guys vying for top dog when the records fell, as has happened in the marathon in the last few years. When the world number one is fairly comfortably ahead of the pack the records tend not to fall as easily.

The 2009 men's world leading time so far is 3:48.5, so 5 seconds off WR pace. The women's is 4:29.64 or 17 seconds off WR pace. Now that is surprising when the women's records are considered to be softer due to relative newness of the events.

Interestingly, the Oceania all time record holder at 3:48.98 is Craig Mottram who just happens to be the current parkrun record holder when he ran 14:00 at Bushy!

True enough about the track markings. But it doesn't get away from the fact that it's not run much anymore, for whatever reason. No events = no chance to break the record.

Good point about the lack of competitiveness. If there were several top runners jostling for dominance, the records would start falling again. Like you said about the marathon runners. You just need to take a look at the all time 10 marathon runners. 8 of them set their best times within the last 2 years (6 of them set them this April!). You can't help but feel that these guys are pushing each other on. I can see a sub 2 hour marathon in my lifetime at this rate!

RichOneday_2

Still not convinced about lack of opportunity - a lot of the mile world records even 20 years ago were specially staged events when someone was 'in shape'.

So far this year there have been 50 athletes who have broken the 4 minute mile barrier which doesn't really indicate the event isn't run anymore. Interestingly though, only 5 athletes have run sub 3:50!

Also, the best 2009 time by a British runner for 1500m is 8 secs outside the WR and the best British time for the mile is 8 secs outside the WR.

The two events go hand in hand as they always have.

beer_tins

It'll be interesting to see if they would still set up an event to give an in from athelete a crack at the WR. You would think so, a WR is a WR after all! Only time will tell, I suppose.

RE: The metric marking, I just double checked and it was in the comments, not in the article. So we can excuse the bbc for the red herring!

RichOneday_2

Without doubt they would!

It is the prospect of WRs that bring the crowds and TV viewers in.

In terms of the 1000m, that is the distance they keep in reserve ready for any new 800m WR holder to set up a grandstand end to the season!


Yep, it was a comment re the markings - silly poster!:rolleyes:

RichOneday_2

In terms of declining standards there is nothing more stark than the British men's decline in marathon running.

Considering the long history of world record holders in this event, most recently Steve Jones's 2:07:13 in 1985 (which remains the fatsest British time to this day!), the 2009 stats are alarming:

The event itself goes from strength to strength with 65 athletes already having run sub 2:10:00 in 2009.

But frighteningly, 331 athletes have run faster that 2:15:20, the fastest 2009 British time!!!!!


And people wonder why we complain so much about the effect the London Marathon/Charities are having on road racing in the UK!

beer_tins

Yep, the marathon event is alive and well. But the British aren't to be seen at the front any more, with one obvious exception! It does beg the question of whether this has to do more with the meteoric rise of Kenya, Ethiopia and north Africa as marathon powerhouses. After all, there aren't many western runners from any country at the front any more (again, a few exceptions).

But there can be little doubt that the lack of available places and races is a large part of the problem.

Are we less sporty as a nation generally? The falling average exercise time for Brits suggests so. There seem to be several factors, but there is no doubt that British distance running is in trouble.

becky_rtw

Am still deciding whether to go out today - its my rest day but I'm not sure I'll get out tomorrow for the parkrun hmmmmmmm