Talk:Long-distance track event

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Is 1600km actually correct? I think if so it could use a little more detail (since there's no mention on the ultramarathons page). Andrew 08:47, Apr 12, 2004 (UTC)

[edit] rabbits in long distance running

im not sure if "rabbit" is the correct term. by rabbit i mean a runner who tries to break the wind for the rest of the runners for half of the run, so the best runners could make new records. i was looking for inforamtion about it and couldnt find.

if someone is familiar with this phenomenon, could they write an article about it? about when it is used and how, and are the rabbits actually athletes who get paid not to try to win, or what?

~~

I think you're referring to pacemakers. They are generally paid to run a specific time, and while there have been cases of pacemakers going on to win races, they generally aren't fast enough over the whole distance to win the races (otherwise they would be racing rather than pacing) --Elephant Juice 00:47, 30 August 2005 (UTC)

rabbit would be correct slang for a person who busts out at the start and really pushes the pace for the first few laps, then dies off.

You're talking about pacemakers. A rabbit isn't exactly someone who pushes the pace and then dies off, though. A rabbit is someone who runs quickly at the beginning, dies off, sprints/runs very fast for a stretch again, dies off, ad infinitum until the race is over. Their goal is to tire other competitors who are used to a constant fast (but not extremely fast) pace. The change in speed usually tires out other competitors if they try to catch up (which they often do because you can't tell how long the person's going to keep up the pace and you want to keep him or her in sight). There's also an interestingly named Swedish exercise (fartlek - pronounced like you thought it was) meaning "speed play" that gets runners used to changing speeds (usually fast speed for x minutes, regular run for x+1, fast for x+2, regular x+3 until peak, and then go back down - x+2, x+1, x).

Yom 16:13, 4 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] 3000m Steeplechase

Why is this listed in the long-distance running section, but as a "middle distance" event in the link box for athletics?

[edit] Notable athletes

These sections seem to be far to long and very subjective too. David D. (Talk) 17:27, 29 November 2007 (UTC)

I agree, I feel that to be included in the list as notable, the athlete should have been either a World Record holder, Olympic gold medallist or World Championship gold medallist and we should only include those with medals and/or records on Long distance track events... not marathon or steeplechase or other events. Xagent86 (Talk | contribs) 11:36, 9 May 2008 (UTC)