nah, there is no conundrum: in the old days (i.e., when more miles were run than 1500s) people were mentally buffaloed by the 4:00 figure and the pace scared them more than in the 1500, where they new they didn't have to go as far (even though it's so close).
Reason for same phenomenon now is that so many people get their 1500 PRs in super-fast rabbited races, something that's a lot harder to find in a mile. Look at the last handful of 1500/mile WR setters, all of whom had super-rabbit, super-rival benefit in both races. Using the generally accepted 1.08 multiplier: El G's 1500 is 0.60 faster than his mile Morceli's 1500 is 0.40 faster Aouita's 1500 is 0.50 faster Cram's 1500 is 0.11 slower Ovett's 1500 is 0.71 faster Coe's 1500 is 0.72 faster Given number of miles each ran relative to 1500s, I posit that with more races the differential (which is incredibly small) would be even smaller. If you can run 3:42.22, you can run 3:59.99! gh ps--pull Cram out of the above results and you can see there might be a case for tweaking the 1.08 by a third-place decimal. (I'll let yuou figure it out!) > From: "Matthew H Fraser Moat" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Organization: Descartes Publishing > Reply-To: "Matthew H Fraser Moat" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Date: Fri, 21 Feb 2003 23:24:37 -0000 > To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Subject: RE: t-and-f: Geb smashes 2 mile WR > > It's a bit like the old 1,500m / Mile conundrum - it is amazing how many > 3.41 1,500m runners just can't beat 4 minutes for the mile. For 3k > specialists, I would estimate that about 7.23 for 3k was equivalent to 8 > minutes for 2 miles. > > Geb's outdoor bests are "only" 7.25/8.01, times which he achieved > several times at the height of his powers. However the true value of > his run tonight can be assessed by the fact that this Geb's first major > track win since the Sydney Olympics two and a half years ago. It is > something like his 13th world best, achieved some 10 years after he > first came to prominence. > > Matthew Fraser Moat > > AW Subs offer: http://www.athletics-weekly.com/tandflist.htm > > > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of ghill > Sent: 21 February 2003 21:30 > To: track list > Subject: Re: t-and-f: Geb smashes 2 mile WR > > > notable yes, incredible no. Conversions between 3000m and 2M are still > voodoo science, to be sure, if you want 100th-second accuracy, but by no > stretch of the imagination is this even an indoor PR for Geb, who has > run 7:26 for the metric distance. > > Since the Africans took over distance running, and indoor venues became > banked 200m Mondo speedways I think you could count with your > fingers--and have some left over--the number of world-class 2M races > that have been contested. > > Good gimmick for the general fans of the sport, but I'd like to hold the > members of this list a slightly higher standard. > > gh > >> From: "Post, Marty" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >> Reply-To: "Post, Marty" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >> Date: Fri, 21 Feb 2003 15:56:27 -0500 >> To: "'[EMAIL PROTECTED] uoregon. edu' >> (E-mail)"<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >> Subject: t-and-f: Geb smashes 2 mile WR >> >> Haile Gebrselassie smashes the world indoor two mile record with a >> devastating display at Norwich Union GP. >> >> The Ethiopian legend knocks an incredible five seconds off the old >> mark as he clocks 8mins 4.69secs in front of thousands of cheering >> fans at the National Indoor Arena. >> >
