Once Upon a Time in the Vest

Monday, April 18, 2022

V 12 N. 32 First Pictures in from Boston 2022

 As promised, from Ned Price, here are those pictures from Ned Price today at the 7.9 mile mark.  Looks like great weather as promised.







First results :

Men                                                                      Women

1.  Evans Chebet  (Ken)       2:06. 51                   1. Peres Jepchirchir*   (Ken)   2:21.01

2. Lawrence Cherono (Ken)  2:07.21                   2. Ababel Yeshaneh (ETH)     2:21.05

3. Benson Kipruto (Ken)       2:07.27                   3. Mary Ngugi (Ken)              2:21.32

4. Gabriel Geay (Tanz)          2:07.53                   4. Edna Kiplagat (Ken)             2:21.40

5. Eric Kiptanui (Ken)           2:08.47                   5. Monicah Ngige (Ken)           2:22.13

6. Albert Korir (Ken)             2:08.50                   6. Viola Cheptoo   (Ken)           2:23.47

7. Scot Fauble (USA)            2:08.52                   7.  Joyciline Jepkosgei (Ken)    2:24.43

8. Jemel Yimer (Eth)             2:08.58                   8.  Degitu Azimeraw (Eth)        2:25.23  

9. Elkanah Kibet (Ken)         2:09.07                   9.  Charlotte Purdue (GBR)      2:25.26

10. Kinde Atanaw (Eth)        2:09.16                  10.  Nell Rojas  (USA)               2:25.57

                                                                              *Olympic Champion 2022

Women's Wheelchair

1. Manuela Schar (SUI)**           1:41.08

2. Sussanah Scaroni (USA)       1:46.20

3. Madison De Rozario (USA)  1:52.48

4. Yen Hoang (USA)                  1:55.27

5. Jenna Fesemyer (USA)          1:55.59

** 4th Boston win


See Video analysis of the race by Total Running Productions:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qb2JrpCVfOc

Friday, April 15, 2022

V 12 N. 31 A Response to Scoring Dual Meets With 5-3-1 or 3-2-1 Systems

 I'm sure this response from Gary Andrus on scoring dual track meets with 5-3-1 or 3-2-1 will enlighten many of our readers and stir up the cobwebs in the brains of the rest.   Ned, do you remember Gary?  Did he pass your course?  I'm reading this as a student who squeezed through my only undergrad math class with a D.  However on the broader spectrum that same semester I also got a D in ROTC, although I did learn to use a compass and read a map.  But militarily I  placed my machine guns in the wrong positions.    George

Hi George, Gary Andrus here. 
Love the site, thanks for your fine work.

Back in the late 60's/early 70's Ned Price was a professor in the
math department at Wayne State University in Detroit. At that
time I was a Ph.D. student in math at Wayne. Ned and I frequently
went on training runs together. I can still smell the fumes from
the beer distillery we often ran by on our way down to Cobo Hall.

Anyway, regarding your recent post in which Ned gives a case of
a duel meet where one team loses using a 5-3-1 system of 
scoring, but wins using a 3-2-1 system. To expand on Ned's result,
(given 10 events, no relays) there are a total of 10 cases in which
that phenomenon exists. I wrote a simple Java program to 
compute the cases.

x = number of first places for Team A
y = number of second places for Team A
z = number of third places for Team A

x = 1 y = 9 z = 10
Scoring under 5-3-1
Team A: 42
Team B: 48
Team B wins

Scoring under 3-2-1
Team A: 31
Team B: 29
Team A wins

x = 1 y = 10 z = 8
Scoring under 5-3-1
Team A: 43
Team B: 47
Team B wins

Scoring under 3-2-1
Team A: 31
Team B: 29
Team A wins

x = 1 y = 10 z = 9
Scoring under 5-3-1
Team A: 44
Team B: 46
Team B wins

Scoring under 3-2-1
Team A: 32
Team B: 28
Team A wins

x = 2 y = 8 z = 9
Scoring under 5-3-1
Team A: 43
Team B: 47
Team B wins

Scoring under 3-2-1
Team A: 31
Team B: 29
Team A wins

x = 2 y = 8 z = 10
Scoring under 5-3-1
Team A: 44
Team B: 46
Team B wins

Scoring under 3-2-1
Team A: 32
Team B: 28
Team A wins

x = 2 y = 9 z = 7
Scoring under 5-3-1
Team A: 44
Team B: 46
Team B wins

Scoring under 3-2-1
Team A: 31
Team B: 29
Team A wins

x = 3 y = 6 z = 10
Scoring under 5-3-1
Team A: 43
Team B: 47
Team B wins

Scoring under 3-2-1
Team A: 31
Team B: 29
Team A wins

x = 3 y = 7 z = 8
Scoring under 5-3-1
Team A: 44
Team B: 46
Team B wins

Scoring under 3-2-1
Team A: 31
Team B: 29
Team A wins

x = 4 y = 5 z = 9
Scoring under 5-3-1
Team A: 44
Team B: 46
Team B wins

Scoring under 3-2-1
Team A: 31
Team B: 29
Team A wins

x = 5 y = 3 z = 10
Scoring under 5-3-1
Team A: 44
Team B: 46
Team B wins

Scoring under 3-2-1
Team A: 31
Team B: 29
Team A wins

Total cases = 10

I might as well throw in my source code too. It's not the most
efficient algorithm, but the numbers are small so, execution-wise,
it doesn't make much difference. Also, one can imagine many
generalizations. Maybe your readers would like to work on some.

/**
 * A dual track meet between Team A and Team B. 10 events.
 * x = number of first places for Team A
 * y = number of second places for Team A
 * z = number of third places for Team A
 *
 * Gary Andrus
 * Version 1.0, Date 4/14/2022
 **/
public class TrackScore
{
    /**
     * Output: All possibilities with Team B winning under the 5-3-1
     *         system of scoring but losing under the 3-2-1 system.
     **/
    public static void main (String[] args)
    {
        // points for first, second, and third for two scoring methods
        int f1 = 5, s1 = 3, t1 = 1;
        int f2 = 3, s2 = 2, t2 = 1;
        int x, y, z;
        int count = 0;
       
        for (x=0; x<=8; x++)
            for (y=0; y<=10;y++)
                for (z=0; z<=10; z++)
                {
                    int a = f1*x + s1*y + t1*z;  // Team A points under 5-3-1
                    int b = 90 - a;              // Team B points under 5-3-1
                    int aa = f2*x + s2*y + t2*z; // Team A points under 3-2-1
                    int bb = 60 - aa;            // Team B points under 3-2-1
                    if (a < 45)
                    {
                        if (aa > 30)
                        {
                            System.out.println ();
                            System.out.println ("x = " + x + " y = " + y + " z = " + z);
                            System.out.println
                            ("Scoring under " + f1 +"-" + s1 +"-" + t1);
                            System.out.println ("Team A: " + a);
                            System.out.println ("Team B: " + b);
                            System.out.println ("Team B wins");
                            System.out.println ();
                            System.out.println
                            ("Scoring under " + f2 +"-" + s2 +"-" + t2);
                            System.out.println ("Team A: " + aa);
                            System.out.println ("Team B: " + bb);
                            System.out.println ("Team A wins");
                            count++;
                        }
                    }
                }
        System.out.println ();
        System.out.println ("Total cases = " + count);                
    }
}
       


Wednesday, April 13, 2022

V 12 N. 30 Boston Is Coming in Five Days (Monday April 18) and Ned Price Will Be There

 After a three year hiatus  Boston will be run again on Patriots' Day April 18, 2022.

Our colleague Ned Price (Univ. of Chicago 1960 something) lives a few streets from the 7.9 mile mark.  He likes to take pictures there and forwards them to us to put on the blog the same day.  He'll be doing it again this year.  If you wish to see some of Ned's work in previous years  here is a link to the last four or five races.  There is also a posting in there of pictures he took in 1962 at the UC track when the United States competed in a dual meet with the Polish national team.  Just keep scrolling, you'll be impressed.  Lots of good stuff including Ted Haydon's list of excuses by runners when things go wrong in a race.  

Here is the link:     Ned Price Archives


Now to keep your minds sharp,  here is a query and discussion that Ned and I had last week precipitated by way of the internet.  Warning this is not for the minds of dilettantes and delvers into the Riemann Hypothesis.  

Riemann Hypothesis?  Fermat's Last Dual Meet.   You are putting pressure on an old man. I will probably forget to take off the lens cap.   Ned

Ned Price

Sun, Apr 10, 11:17 AM (2 days ago)
to me

 I was thinking about math weirdness and running.

1. There is a situation where 5-3-1 scoring in a dual track meet produces a different winner than 3-2-1 scoring.

2. Out East we used to have  three team meets called "double dual"  x-country meets where you crossed out the runners from the third team and separately scored a-b, b-c and a-c.

It can lead paradoxically to a>b, ,b>c, and c>a.     ">"  means "is greater than" (ed.)

Ned,

How can I respond to a question like this from a U. of Chicago grad?  I'm sure there is some very obscure mathematical premise hidden in 
here somewhere.  We used to have those double dual meets in track and cross country, even three teams scoring as three duals.  Always gave everyone a chance to come home with a win teamwise or individually.
This may have been the precursor of giving every kid a trophy on the last place team.

George


George:

You are an eclectic fellow     It took  me a while to come up with an example.   If there are 10 events in  a dual meet and a  team  has 2 firsts 9 seconds and 7 thirds    A loses the meet 44-46   scoring  5-3-1    but wins 31-29 scoring 3-2-1.

Regarding the 3 duals , if (in Cross Country)  Oklahoma beat Oklahoma Baptist 27-28 and Oklahoma Baptist beat  Oklahoma State 27-28 and Oklahoma State beat Oklahoma 27-28 wouldn't  you wonder too?

Don't blame the University of Chicago for my mutterings.

Ned


Ned,

How would you score the relays in those dual meets?    5-0    or 3-0 to the winner?  Who ever said the relay was not important?

Perhaps you have seen Jim Fixx's less well known book  "Games for the Superintelligent"?  Here is an easy one from that book.
Ch II  No. 14.   Ups and Downs     A snail is at the bottom of a well 30 feet deep.  It can crawl upward three feet in one day, but at
night it slips back two feet.  How long does it take for the snail to crawl out of the well?

Answ.   Twenty-eight days.  On the twenty eighth day it reaches the top of the well and doesn't slip backwards. We are of course assuming that the snail has enough energy stored in it's body to keep up this struggle for 28 days, or perhaps it was able to lick off the slime on the walls of the well.  Of course we must also assume it has a tongue. I think I may have posted some of these on the blog a few years ago.  Don't ask me if there are three snails at the bottom of the well, whether each can be a winner.  

George

George:

Yes you have pointed out something I had not considered. You are sly like a fox.  Ned


If there were two relays, a win and a loss could nullify any change in team scores.    My colleague Roy Mason will enjoy this, and I shall put it on the blog.

I hope you are physically  as well as you are mentally and will be out along the street for the Boston marathon next week.  And of course we will expect a photographic report.   

Here is a link to a set of Fixx's questions in another posting in 2016 with additional discussion about the Rio 1500m and other commentary from the readers.  The answers to the questions are at the end of the post.


Take care,
George


Ned,
Nowdays in cross country with the chips in the shoes they calculate the 'running score' as the race progresses which adds to the fun of doing a post race analysis.
"At the 8.5km mark we were national champs, but alas by the end we were fifth." 
George


George:

I knew you were a nerd at heart.  With 10 events and 3 scoring places, there are 11x11x11=1331 separate possibilities . About 98% produce consistent winners or ties.    I didn't consider relays.

If all goes well I will try to be at the 7.9 mile mark Monday.  Ned


Finally Roy Mason wades in:  My first reaction was "interesting" and then moved on only to return.  Probably play with this when the day's chores are behind me. 


Not familiar with 3-2-1.  Have always thought the 5-3-2-1 scoring used in the meets with the Soviet Union, where there are only four competitors, was odd.  You get a point for finishing last?  How can you not finish last?  Yes, I know, Bob Soth, but still.    (For those of you who forgot, Bob Soth overheated in the US Russian dual in the 10,000 and DNF'd. in Philly 1959)  link:  Bob Soth
Be warned some of these images are graphic and disturbing.  


Tuesday, April 12, 2022

V 12 N. 29 Brian Kivlan, New York's First Sub 4 Miler, R.I.P.

 


                                                                  Brian Kivlan 1948-2022

We saw today in Walt Murphy's blog  This Day in Track and Field that Brian Kivlan, former Manhattan Jasper, passed away this week. 

I really didn't know much if anything about Brian as I was festering in the Peace Corps and then the Army when Brian was hitting his peak.  So I must rely on others for this information.  

The first is a link to a MileSplitNY  article on Brian written by Zachary Shtogren, a first class read:

Brian Kivlan       


Walt published this letter from Tom Donahue about Brian:

R.I.P.—Brian Kivlan, an All-American miler at Manhattan College, passed away earlier this month at the age of 74. Tom Donahue, another Jasper All-American, passed along this message to the Manhattan T&F family:

“It is with a great deal of sadness that I share the news of Brian Kivlan's death.

Brian passed away in Jacksonville Florida, at the age of 74, in the loving care of his daughter Kerri and close family members.

Please remember Brian and his family in your daily prayers during their time of sorrow.

Brian is still our college record holder in the mile at 3:57.4 and in 2017 his mile performance was voted the 4th greatest moment in our college's 110 year Track & Field history.

You might be wondering why I, of all people, am sharing the news about Brian since I am not one of his classmates and live 1,000 miles away in Jacksonville Florida?

Brian lived on NYC's westside.  Although he was two years my senior, we kept in touch, especially in our later years. Brian was always 

concerned that a hurricane would hit Jacksonville and Pat and I and our family would suffer. This became a constant source of  amusement between us because a tropical disturbance in Florida is as frequent as a traffic jam in midtown New York.

Last year, Brian's daughter Kerri and her family were transferred to Jacksonville. The prospect of Brian visiting Jacksonville for the first time ever to see Kerri and his granddaughter was very real...and Pat and I could piggyback on his family trip and entertain him!

However, life is not a straight line.

Brian flew to Jacksonville on March 24th but not all was right. Brian had cut his leg and it had not healed properly. When he arrived, Kerri saw the infection and brought him into the emergency room. It was bad enough that Brian was admitted. One thing led to another and Brian was transferred to the ICU. I visited him frequently, stayed in constant contact with Kerri and  thought he was improving. But it was not to be. Brian never recovered and he is now with the Lord.

I realize and fully understand that I am a 72 year old man emailing a group of primarily older men about a sad subject...but think of the opportunity Brian gave us.

When you get a chance to engage with a person from your youth, do it and you will be better for it.

When you get a chance to bring comfort and cheer to another person, do it and you will be better for it.

When you get a chance to do something positive, especially when no one is looking, do it and you will be better for it.

May our teammate and friend Brian Kivlan rest in peace...”

Tom Donahue

 

Kivlan’s Career highlights

         All-American at Manhattan College—3rd in the 1500 at the 1968 NCAA Championships behind Villanova’s Dave 

            Patrick and Oregon’s Dave Wilborn (see photo).

         Also finished 3rd at the 1968 U.S. Championships and was a semi-finalist at the 1968 U.S. Olympic Trials.

         Finished 2nd to Dave Patrick(3:56.8) in a memorable mile at the 1968 IC4A Championships at Philadelphia’s Franklin 

             Field. Ran a personal best of 3:57.4 as the first 5 finishers all broke 4-minutes, a first for an all-collegiate race.

             (3.Jerry Richey-Pittsburgh/3:58.6, 4.Frank Murphy-Villanova/3:58.6, 5.Jack Fath-Fordham/3:59.5)

         PBs-3:40.3(’68), 3:57.4(’68); 

         Former track coach at the Trinity School in NY City. One of the athletes he coached for a short time in soccer at 

            Trinity was John McEnroe, who credits Kivlan with politely suggesting that he might have more success in another 

            Sport--Tennis! 


V 12 N. 28 Obscenity

 No bodies, no burned out tanks, no blown out apartment buildings, no posturing politicians.  Still these pictures say a lot about today's world.  

                                           Yuri Gagarin Stadium in Chernihiv, Ukraine

                                                               Today from The Guardian



                                                      Yuri Gagarin Stadium Today



                                                                Arial View   (Trendsmap)



                                                                    from Trendsmap



Wednesday, April 6, 2022

V 12 N. 27 Are We About to Be Treated in Our Sport to An Extraordinary Season of Record Setting?

 

This blog is more than dependent on writing coming in from our readers.  Some days it's Paul O'Shea with a book review,  Darryl Taylor with a moving story from the past,  Bill Schnier with a long commentary about something I wrote, and on a rare occasion something from the mind of my original partner in this non profit enterprise Roy Mason.   Today we get a prognostication from the mind and  keyboard of Richard Mach,  a former Western Michigan Bronco.  


ARE WE ABOUT TO BE TREATED IN OUR SPORT TO AN EXTRAORDINARY SEASON OF RECORD SETTING ?    by Richard Mach

“World records in track and field show us how fast, how far and how high human beings are capable of running, jumping and throwing.    They are the ultimates, thus far, @ any moment in history of what our species can accomplish over measured distances alone, in tandem with others or with implements.   Each record stands atop all, the often uncountable efforts over all of time before that have been less however than this ultimate mark.  This World Record {WR}.  We have watched across a life time the evolution and the progression of these records and how they often seem to come altogether in sudden clots of activity — punctuated by periods of stagnancy. Could this be the year a number of them are unleashed?



The February 1954 issue of “Boy’s Life” contained an article about the men’s mile record while asking the question could it ever be broken while going under 4 without the athlete sacrificing his very life in the effort.  One 12 yr old boy read the article twice and was introduced to the science of physiology as well as the less certain one of conjecture.  And was fascinated.   



All the main players in this conjecture back then were present and accounted for.  There was John Landy, an entomologist out of Australia portrayed as doing at least part of his training while chasing various insects with a net.   He was the author’s favorite candidate to do the deed.  And the other big gun was the Kansan, Wes Santee, he of the withering kick, but soon to lose his amateur status because of some doddering AAU prig — aka career wrecker — bound and determined to make it his life’s work to destroy the career of someone he wouldn’t be offered even a seat in the stands @ one of Santee’s great races.   This over support money to attend a meet.  Also, in passing, was mentioned this Brit studying medicine at Oxford, who’d finished just out of the medals in the ’52 Olympic Games 1500 m final, a R Bannister, who seemed more preoccupied with his studies than his hurried abbreviated training sessions wedged between exams, hospital rounds, his studies, eating and sleeping.   


Yet, within 3 months time, Britannia’s Roger Bannister on a cold windy wet day on Iffley Road Field, Oxford University, with two of his pace setting mates on a wet cinder track, became the first ever to dip under 4 between his exams; and both passed them and didn’t die.  Instead, he ended up living a long, highly productive life as a talented medical researcher.  What few knew at the time was the ever curious and enterprising Bannister had rigged up a treadmill and gas collection system that gave him feedback — personal physiological data after he ran 15 mph for 3 minutes equivalent to 3/4th of a mile.  And these data projected out another minute gave him confidence he could run another quarter mile at the same speed.  He used science in early 1954 — nearly 7 decades ago now — to assure himself of accomplishing his goal to break 4.  

                                                           
May 6, 1954 Iffley Road

Forty-six {46} days later, Landy, the Aussie, took down the med student’s very recent mark of 3:59.4 by a second and a half. 
                                         Landy Taking the Record in Turku, Finland

 Late that same summer came what was billed “The Mile of the Century” between the two along with a supporting cast held in Vancouver BC.  Landy knew, as a metronomic runner, he had to somehow run the kick out of the Brit to hope to win.   And that’s the way it looked at the halfway point: The Aussie gradually pulling farther and farther away until, with a lap and a half to go, the Brit began reeling him back in so that by the bell there was but maybe 3 m between them.  Landy resolutely maintained his pace until, almost off the last curve, with but perhaps no more than 65 yards to the tape, Bannister came round him at the same instant Landy was looking back for him inside over his left shoulder.  It was over in an instant, Landy regrouped, but Bannister’s acceleration was too much.  The gangly Brit collapsed into the arms of his handlers, while Landy, dejected, placed his hands on his hips and walked away — hardly winded.  
                                                                    El Geurrouj

Some 45 yrs later, a Moroccan, Hichem El Geurrouj, with the ability to run 55 seconds quarters with impeccably flawless biomechanics went for broke and ran some 16 and 3 tenths seconds faster the the world’s first sub-4 minute miler, a mark that 23 years later still stands to this day.  

In certain events in track and field, there has been a undeniably significant lull in record setting.  And this is especially true in the men’s events in every race between 1500 m, sometime referred to as the metric mile — although 119 yards shorter — and the 10,000 meter track race.   
                                                                               
                                      
                                                                                                                                

While it’s true that in the last half of 2020, Joshua Cheptegei of Uganda broke both the 5 and 10 thousand meter records, they’d been held for over a decade and a half before by one man, Kenensia Bekele of Ethiopia.  Otherwise, these records as seen below have been surviving — in one case — for as long as for 26 yrs now.    Here’s a brief table to consolidate this information: The event, the time, the WRH’s name, their nationality the place the record was set and the date on which it was set.  


1500 m     3:26.00     H. El Guerrouj  MAR Rome     14JUL’98

Mile 3:43.13            El G   MAR  Rome       7JUL’99


3,000 m 7.20.67       D. Komen   KEN   Rieti        1 SEP’96

5,000 m   12:3735.     K Bekele   ETH   Hengelo  31MAY’04
12:35.36    J. Cheptegei    UGA   Monaco  14AUG’20

10,000 m  26:17.53    K. Bekele        ETH   Brussels  26AUG’05
 26.11.00    J. Cheptegei   UGA  Valencia    7OCT’20


Meanwhile, across the intervening years, all manner of improvements have been made that would contribute to such performances, a few of which we will mention here in passing.  Track surfaces continue to be improved.  Some tuned to the same hysteresis or memory resonance that human muscle has. Shoes, too, have been engineered to give back the wearer more of the energy each compressive foot strike delivers to them.  The Pro circuit, the WANDA Diamond League, each year offers sizable purses for each event as well as prize money at the end of the year for the top point getters at their many venues.  Pacers are used, sometimes as many as 3 different talented athletes themselves, to lead out the top competitors so they can concentrate on being as efficient as possible in conserving their energies for the run on into the tape.  Some tracks now have had pacing lights installed along the curve that are set to deliver the pace the runners have aspired to run.   Human performance labs dedicated to research toward optimizing training regimens and biomechanical efficiencies toward running faster continue to crank out meaningful looks into the science of running and throwing and jumping.  And we cannot ignore the dedication of our East and North African supremely talented runners to training and racing and breaking into the big time, in part, to often escape lives of poverty and limited opportunity.  

But, despite all of this, all but Bekele’s records as you can see by the table have endured for much longer than, in fact, the past history of progression in any of these events would ever even begin to predict.  This lapse in new record setting is unique in history.

Perhaps, you’ve seen the recent stats provided on the LetsRun.com website citing the number of sub 4 miles indoors -- largely -- the first 3 months of 2022?  Over one hundred.  It is becoming the usual rather than the exception that a top miler, even a freshman, is going to go under 4 his first year {or two} @ university.  It has become something now that all good enough milers just do.  Ho Hum.  But this factoid is but the tip of the iceberg.   Looking rather exhaustively at the unusually sterling performances and marks @ the recent Track and Field World Indoor Championships, I must wonder if we aren't going to have an absolutely cracking next 6-7 months outdoors, mostly on the world stage, but as well at the US college level, where the performances are well beyond expectation and often enough simply out of this world.  And where certain world records may go.  
                                                                         
                                                             Gardiner
  
To start out, in no particular order, I am imagining the Bahamian, Steven Gardiner {6’4”,164#}, might somehow run down Wayde Van Niekerk's scintillating, mid blowing 400m WR of 43.03   And if, in the right race, fully healthy and with viable competition, could we not see a homo sapien dip under 43 for the first time in recorded history?  
                                                                                
And then there is the young talented American, Athing Mu, gifted with her forbearers’ Sudanese DNA, already running — as a freshman with Texas A&M — as anchor a 48.85 on their collegiate 4 x 400 m relay early this spring.  And, as anchor, a 48.32 final leg for an Olympic gold. At 19, she already has two, the other in her specialty, the individual 800 m.  
                                                                            
                                                                           Mu

In that particular distance, resides the longest surviving woman's world record in track and field,— that by the Czech, Jarmila Kratochvilova [KRAT-TOCH-VEE-LO-VA] , a 1:53.28 smack dab in the middle of the no-holds-barred anabolic steroid era.  Set in 1983, some 39 years ago, it is in danger. From Mu.  At 19, she has already posted a 1:55.04.  She has the biomechanical effortlessness of Kenya’s men 800 m WR, David Rudisha.  Only Keely Hodgkinson from Great Britain could contemplate being with Mu at the bell in a top race, but, if she, too, were to run out of her head, could we not see a simply spectacular race?    Unfortunately, the Brit was recently down with the scourge of COVID, so we can only hope for her full recovery.  

Like many fine young runners these days, Mu is likely enough to peak rather early in her career; and so while that window of time within which to take down Kratochvilova’s ersatz record is hardly closing, it is nonetheless perhaps more limited than we would like.  

As a side note, if there is any question remaining about whether Kratochvilova was doping, there is a picture published in the NYTimes of her at the line finishing that WR revealing her muscularity —a muscularity that easily exceeds that of 99% of the male population then.  And now.  {https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/15/sports/olympics/jarmila-kratochvilova-800-meters-record.html}

                                                                        
                                                                    Crouser
    
And then there is America’s Ryan Crouser, whom, although he suffered a loss in the just past Belgrade WCs to the gifted Brazilian thrower, is putting brilliantly and with such finesse in that altogether so tiny ring for someone 6'7" and 320#.  Crouser recently finally exceeded another aged {1990}, plenty questionable WR, this one by the US’s Randy Barnes, set, again, during the time of florid doping. And at now 29, Crouser is peaking.  His current WR is 76’ 5 1/4”, but he is not through.  And from the looks of things, every time he steps into the ring, he’s gunning for another one.  

And in the world’s favorite two middle distance events?   The Eritrean, Samuel Tefera, was seen two weeks ago in the WC 1500 m final in Serbia, running away from El G's 1500m/mile heir apparent, Norway's Jakob Ingebrigtsen. We later learned that right after the race, the Norweigan sought testing for COVID because he felt during the run in to the tape he just didn’t have it and that test was positive.  

The Moroccan, Hichem El Guerrouj WRs of 3:26.00 at 1500 m and 3:43.13 in the mile have resisted all comers for nearly 24 and 23 years respectively because of how exceptional  they would have to be— if for no other reason than their longevity.  With Tefera revealing he is no fluke and many players giving notice, there’s the appearance of a kind of gelling underway at that distance for the men.  And we could see the take-down of both these tremendous records this outdoor season in 2022, perhaps in Monaco in early mid-season.  Or, maybe, we will have to wait until the fall. The gelling I speak of is the number of heaters out there who are going to want a crack at it.  And we have the World Championships here in Eugene’s new stadium set for mid-July this year.  
                                                                        
                                                   Tefera Upends Ingebrigtsen                                                    

At 21, Jakob Ingebrigtsen has pretty much established himself as the one to beat.  His gold medal from Tokyo in hand, along setting the Olympic record, his world indoor record of 3:30.60 set only 6 wks ago, coupled with an impressive sets of wins at longer distances and world class credentials therein, he is, at 21, most of all to be reckoned with.  His outdoor PRs are 5.5 seconds and 13 seconds off the WRs @ 3000 and 5000 m.  Currently.  That breadth and that depth of capability bodes well for his future.  In his Olympic final, he ran each lap faster than the one before.   And we mustn’t forget the ever dangerous, primier, nearly unbeatable Kenyan miler, Timothy Cheriuyot, the world’s top miler for the past 3-4 seasons.  Nor, as well,  a number of others who are in the 3:46 or so range in the mile.  
                                                                        
                                                                    Holloway
   
Grant Holloway, the former Virginia HS phenom, in the high hurdles is awaiting a true competitor still there over the last hurdle to take down Aries Merritt’s 12.80 WR in the high hurdles.   He is capable of a jet start and a flawless execution over the 10 hurdles when he finds his MoJo has gelled early between the first and second hurdle.  At such speeds, this race is one of immense precision.  Holloway now owns the WR at the 60 m indoor hurdles at 7.29.  Currently he stands alone above his competition. He has run 6.50 in the 60m flat sprint indoors.  Has jumped over 27 ft in the long jump and over 7’1’ in the high jump and has run a high 43s 3rd leg on his Florida U 4 x 4.  This versatility reveals the breadth of his athleticism.  And tells us to watch for him in the World Championships final 3.5 months from now.  If the weather is good, no rain, and a competitor steps up to challenge; then, watch out.
                                                                            
                                                                    Duplantis

Sweden’s { and America's} Armand Gustav Duplantis, “Mondo”, has broken the PV record yet again.  At Serbia’s WCs just past.   And, altho set indoors, it is seen as thee WR. He now has a mind boggling 20 ft 4 inches mark.   Already, it is beginning to appear that Mondo is intent on building a fine nest egg early on — ala, the Russian, Sergey Bubka — bumping up the record just a little at the time along with all the notoriety and prize money and acclaim that subsequently accrues.  
                                                                        
NBC, craven as they are, long refused to give Mondo his due in their scanty coverage because of their hard core ‘patriotic’ nonsense around his choosing to jump for his mother’s home country of Sweden despite being born and raised in Louisiana.  You‘d think they were the CIA’s wannabe arm for All American fealty.  Once he broke the world record, the suits there on the top floor @ NBC — still trying to fit track and field into their football model —  were placed squarely in the position of continuing to not cover the world record holder more than summarily or bend to his talent and fame.  The latter stratagem won out … to the advantage of everyone involved, including the suits — still craven — on the top floor.

Despite the still competing Mustafa Barshim scaling 7’ 11 3/4” earlier in his career {2014}, that superhuman  8' 1/4"jump by Javier Sotomayor, the Cuban, way back in 1993 and perhaps also fueled by anabolic stroids, appears to remain safe … at least for the moment.   

The nearly ever changing cast of potential world beaters in the longer 2 track flat races, the 5000 and 10000 m, while, again, largely representing 5-6 African nations need to get together — counter-intuitively — and decided to take down the two world best ever times Uganda's Joshua Cheptegei has set by switching the lead every lap or two to spread the demand out evenly enough.    With the best of the best 3 or 4 on that day dragging the field around thru the bulk of the race; then, in those closing laps it’s mano a mano, every man for himself.  We are looking at averaging under 4:03 a mile for 5K and under 4:13/mile for 10k to break these awesome records.    Marks whose contemplation alone has me mumbling incoherently.   Kenensia Bekele, the Ethiopian, held both 5 and 10 Km records for more than a decade and a half, and then, as covered earlier, Cheptegei took 2 seconds off the 5K and 6.5 seconds off the longer race.  

In any premier race, Ethiopia’s Selemon Barega and team mate and Indoor Mile WRH, Yomif  Kajelcha {3:47.01, Boston, 3MAR’19} would be expect to be in the mix along with Cheptegei and his Ugandan team mate, Jacob Kiplimo, also likely there and perhaps our ever improving Grant Fisher {12:53i} a former Stanford Cardinal and NCAA 5,000 m champion  will break into the Big, Big Time here in any such race.

As an aside I calculated the average mile pace for the Kenyan record holder in the marathon, Eiiud Kipchoge, who, back in 2003 at 18.8 yrs old served notice and beat both El G and Bekele in  the world championships finals at 5000 m with a then jaw dropping 53 second last 400.  In his world best marathon of 2:01.39, he averaged 4:38.39 and in his paced, sheltered 1:59.40, he averaged 4:33.85 across 26.2 miles.  When you look at Kipchoge’s career performances, he is right up there in the pantheon along with El G, Bekele, and Ethiopia’s Haile Gebrselassie.  

Link to that incredible WC 5,000 in 2003   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMZdOdriRdk

For now, the marks put down by the now safely retired Usain Bolt from Jamaica in the 100 m and 200 m seem safe @ 9.58 and 19.19 as is Kenya’s 800 m phenom, Rudisha’s. @ 1.40.91.   An all American women’s 4x 400 m woman’s relay team might have a chance to reduce the current WR some more, but that is to but wait and see.  
                                                                       
                                                                                   Rohler
                      Vetter
Finally, the javelin seems populated by gradually switching players every year, but the Germans have three prodigious throwers all well over 90 meters.  And their top thrower, and favorite for the Tokyo OLY Gold, Johannes Vetter, who did so badly in the Olympic Games finishing 9th, was rumored to have been defeated by the surface material on the run-up track.  The top layer proved not substantial enough to resist the tremendous forces he put on it at the moment of sudden stopping before release.   And converting all his mass and velocity in the process  to the end of his throwing arm and the javelin. He was said to have been shredding the area where he planted.  Making it an undependable, unstable plant surface.  The material reputedly gave way and he found himself not firmly anchored and the surface failed him.  His longest throw to date otherwise is 320’ 8 3/4’, 2.5 ft short of the world record.  With a firm surface we may find his javelin sails beyond  323’ 1 1/4.”  Or his constant, highly competitive teammate, Thomas Rohler, does the deed. 

Rich

Has it begun?    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpGsjCs1SdE     Posting this on April 28, 2022.

Wilfred Schnier

4:17 AM (1 hour ago)
to me
   Wow!  What extensive research!  Why the enormous resurgence in T&F potential records?  It is probably the natural progression of ups and downs but also the statistical difficulty of breaking records when so many have prepared themselves to do so.  These records are currently amazing, so to break them a person has to be more amazing.  It seems as if many such people are on the horizon.  The number of people and countries in the mix has surely assisted the effort as have all the other advantages suggested by Richard Mach, yet it will still be an intriguing summer.  T&F is back in its full glory and I only hope there are lots of people like we were in the 1970s who embrace this excellence and this sport to make it more exciting than just a sentence in a newspaper citing another world record.  Bill Schner

V 14 N. 19 Query on Dave and Don Styron

 Asking any of you who read this blog if you know if Dave and Don Styron who ran at  NE Louisiana and Southern Illinois in the early 1960...