800 meters

T

trackster

Mentor
Joined
Jan 11, 2010
Messages
926
With all the great young 800 guys out there (especially Loxsom, Andrews, and Wheating in the US, but there are some great Polish runners, too), it's high time we had a thread dedicated to the half-mile. And even though Loxsom handily won the Big Ten Championship today, there's only one link that deserves to start this thread.

I present to you the bearded mountain man of UC Santa Barbara, Ryan Martin, running an absolutely phenomenal 1:45:34 to win his conference championship this weekend:
http://www.runnerspace.com/video.php?video_id=45894-Ryan-Martin-1-45-34-Charles-Jock-1-45-40-Mens-800-Final-2011-Big-West-Championships
 
I saw that last night.
Great race from a guy I've never heard of.
Looks like we've got some 800m studs coming up! :p
 
Time to start getting really excited about our young 400 pool. Not only do we have Loxsom, Andrews, Wheating, and Ryan Martin as outstanding young prospects, but it seems that I have been underrating UCLA's Cory Primm, who ran a spectacular 1:44 to defeat professional competition yesterday. It was the meet at Occidental College, available on Flotrack. Primm was the shock of the meet.
 
Just putting that Scheepers time in perspective. It's better than the all-time high school record, if the Milesplite list is accurate.
 
That is some serious talent. I need to follow some of these races more closely. Thanks for the great updates. You are the main man on the middle distance and distance races. We couldn't do it without you.
 
Wow--I hope some of you guys saw that NCAA race. It totally lived up to the hype (everyone was considering it the marquis event of the NCAAs).

Charles Jock, the Sudanese born runner, took it out unbelievably hard, 49 seconds for the first quarter. Only Cas Loxsom stayed with him. Super talents Greer and Andrews hung in the rear. Ryan Martin was in the middle of the pack.

With 200 to go, the pack started closing in on Jock and Loxsom, though neither gave up. Loxsom started to kick, but he simply didn't have enough left. Ryan Martin, unfortunately, had nothing this time around; he seemed to peak a few weeks ago. But with a little over 100 meters left, Greer and Andrews started blasting from the back. Andrews with his legendary all-out, leave nothing, bullet finish, and Greer with his beautiful long strides.

In the end, Andrews shot past everyone to finish in an incredible 1:44.71, in the rain on a wet track, and I believe it was the second fastest collegiate 800 ever. Greer seemed to clip his foot against Loxsom on the straightaway, breaking his stride or he might very well have won (although I doubt it). I think Greer finished third. Loxsom finished around fourth. I imagine Greer and Loxsom both hit PRs.

One incredible race. Seriously, guys, for all of you that still think it's all about the sprints, I can't even tell you how much more exciting an 800 is--it's got speed, tactics, guts. There's just so much more to it than there is a 100.
 
Here are the results for that race. Amazing times for Andrews, Greer, and Loxsom. Primm and Martin couldn't keep up, but I think they peaked a little too early this year. Man, we've got some great young 800 runners!

<table ="meetresults" align="left" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><t><tr><td>
</td><td>Robby Andrews</font></td><td>SO</font></td><td>Virginia</font></td><td>1:44.71</font></td><td align="center"></font></td><td>S</font></td><td>10</font></td><td></font></td><td></font></td><td></font></td><td align="center"></font></td></tr><tr ="#eaeaea"><td>2</font></td><td>Charles Jock</font></td><td>JR</font></td><td>UC Irvine</font></td><td>1:44.75</font></td><td align="center"></font></td><td></font></td><td>8</font></td><td></font></td><td></font></td><td></font></td><td align="center"></font></td></tr><tr><td>3</font></td><td>Elijah Greer</font></td><td>SO</font></td><td>Oregon</font></td><td>1:45.06</font></td><td align="center"></font></td><td></font></td><td>6</font></td><td></font></td><td></font></td><td></font></td><td align="center"></font></td></tr><tr ="#eaeaea"><td>4</font></td><td>Casimir Loxsom</font></td><td>SO</font></td><td>Penn State</font></td><td>1:45.31</font></td><td align="center"></font></td><td></font></td><td>5</font></td><td></font></td><td></font></td><td></font></td><td align="center"></font></td></tr><tr><td>5</font></td><td>Edward Kemboi</font></td><td>FR</font></td><td>Iowa State</font></td><td>1:46.82</font></td><td align="center"></font></td><td></font></td><td>4</font></td><td></font></td><td></font></td><td></font></td><td align="center"></font></td></tr><tr ="#eaeaea"><td>6</font></td><td>Cory Primm</font></td><td>SR</font></td><td>UCLA</font></td><td>1:47.01</font></td><td align="center"></font></td><td></font></td><td>3</font></td><td></font></td><td></font></td><td></font></td><td align="center"></font></td></tr><tr><td>7</font></td><td>Willie Brown</font></td><td>SO</font></td><td>Akron</font></td><td>1:47.02</font></td><td align="center"></font></td><td></font></td><td>2</font></td><td></font></td><td></font></td><td></font></td><td align="center"></font></td></tr><tr ="#eaeaea"><td>8</font></td><td>Ryan Martin</font></td><td>JR</font></td><td>UC Santa Barbara</font></td><td>1:47.62</font></td><td align="center"></font></td><td></font></td><td>1</font></td><td></font></td></tr></t></table>
 
Thanks. And for anyone, looking for a video, Let's Run has posted a bootleg that someone took by aiming a camera at their monitor. I'm not sure it will be up long, so run, don't walk, to see it. The Let's Run recap refers to this as "one of the most thrilling races in NCAA history." Yep.

Just to set you up for the video: Andrews is the short, slightly-nerdy looking fellow in orange. Greer is the lanky smooth runner in Oregon yellow and green. Loxsom is the gutty fellow in white shirt and black shorts who sticks to Jock like glue, despite the mad pace:

http://www.letsrun.com/2011/final800-0611.php
 
Great race!
Also glad to see so many white guys in the race.
In the US, this was a white event for years and years, then over the last 20 yrs, became blacker and blacker.
Now it seems the tide is turning in the other direction.
There is some great, white talent in the US 800m now.
I noticed that of the 8 runners in the final, 5 were white Americans, 2 Africans, 1 black american.
10 years ago, I think the number of white and black american participants would have been reversed.
 
Cas Loxsom ran a PR in Canada yesterday. I really like this kid. Not only is he fast, but he runs with guts. He gets in the NCAAs or the USTAFs and he never hangs back but just guts it out right behind the leader, running a smart, tough race. He's young, but I think the sky is the limit for him.

Here's the video of his 1:45.28. He finished second behind Canadian Andrew Ellerton, whose time makes him watch list worthy:
http://www.flotrack.org/coverage/238919-Harry-Jerome-International-Track-Classic-2011/video/498829-M-800-F02-Invite-Andrew-Ellerton-14504
 
I'm switching threads--I'd been talking about the Euro juniors on the Watch List thread, but I think the 800 guys are good enough to belong here. It turned out to be a darn good race. The event website has been posting quality videos of all the races, so if you'd rather watch it not knowing, stop reading now (i.e. SPOILER ALERT):


Now for those who want to know what happened. The young Frenchman with the unreal times, Bosse, hadn't been looking good in the quarters or semis, but he decided to take matters into his own hands and took the lead immediately. Rogestedt, who looked like dynamite in his semi, followed his usual tactic, and laid way, way back. By the end of the first lap, there was Boss, a gap, the pack, a gap, and finally Rogestedt.

Rogestedt started pushing at the bell, which forced him to go awkwardly wide on the pentultimate curve. Then, with everyone picking up the pace, he had to sweep around the crowd on the backstretch. Rogestedt was about fourth coming out of the curve.

Bosse still had a solid lead, but with about 90m to go, he started to fade, and Rudolf (Slovenian? I forget his nationality), the guy with the best kick in the semis, started his charge, as did the Turk. Rogestedt continued to come hard, too. Suddenly, it looked like a four man race.

But Bosse would have none of it. With about 50 to go, he must have heard footsteps, and he summoned up one last kick to put away the field. Let me tell you, he is one hell of a runner. I believe his time was 1:47:15 or thereabouts, and he ran it entirely from the front. Outstanding for his age. He looks like a thoroughbred.

Behind Bosse, Rudolf's kick was good and he finished second, and Rogestedt, having run the longest route, by far, of any runner, came in third. Rogestedt looked depressed afterwards. His tactics had failed him; otherwise he could have given Bosse a real challenge. As for Rudolf, he came out of nowhere to perform so well in the championships, so I have no way of assessing his potential.
 
Nice result today--Brit Jenny Meadows easily beat undefeated Kenia Sinclair in London. Meadows ran an outstanding 1:58.6. I'm not watching the meet, but I expect Universal to post the race later.
 
Another youngster to remember: Mark English, a junior from Ireland, just set a junior national record time of 1:47.09.

So many good young 800 guys nowadays.
 
I've been a bit slow in reporting this, but young Adam Kszczot absolutely BLISTERED an 800 at Rieti. His 1:43.3 puts him well ahead of our young American stars now, as well as his compatriot Lewandowski. We've just got a lot of good young talents at this distance. Maybe next year they start edging closer to Rudisha (who is the Usain Bolt of the 800).

http://www.european-athletics.org/c...cks-800m-european-lead-of-14330-in-rieti.html
 
It's getting so that I can't keep track of all the great young 800 runners. This year, even more are popping up in the high school ranks. Tyler Smith, the undertrained Canadian, who has been so good indoors this year, would seem to be the class, but now Californian Nick Hartle is said to be aiming at the national HS record this weekend. Seeing as Smith will be there, the 800 could be a great event.

Here's an article on Hartle.

Here's a video of Hartle, who, although a pure mid distance 800-1500 man, runs the anchor on his high school teams 4 by 400. Check out what happens. He takes the stick in third place, way, way, back. It looks like the race is over and he'll be dueling for second. But he just lopes along, picking up steam on the back stretch, and before you can blink, he's not only made up the enormous gap, but he's actually won by a huge margin. It's a thing of beauty.
 
Early season 800 news:

Curtis Beach--he's a decathlete, and a really good one, could well make the Olympic team. But everyone knows he'd be better at mid distance. So the Duke undergrad, who reputedly runs almost no mileage in practice, raced the 800 this week and annihilated the competition with a 1:47--a fine early season time for a specialist, but a ridiculous time for a decathlete. Video here.

Meanwhile, mountain man, Ryan Martin, who had a great NCAA season last year, captured a big victory over some top flight competition. Video here.

On the girl's side, NCAA indoor champ, BYU's Nachelle Mackie ran a big PR and beat some top runners, including professionals. Video here.

Finally, Tyler Smith's victory in the Arcadian high school race. Video. Smith had a big indoor season, despite very light training and only recently quitting basketball. He's got a funny style and dips his head a lot like he's trying to push through lactic acid (not unlike Ryan Martin). With training he could be phenomenal in few years.
 
Cas Loxsom won the Big 10 championships today in a time of 1:46.12.
Meanwhile Ryan Martin of UCSB, ran 1:44.77 to finish 2nd by 2/100s at the Big West Championships.Let's hope Martin saves something for the NCAAs this time. Last year he had already peaked and was not a factor.
 
Awesome--those are great times! I would love to see those two make the Olympic team. Loxsom has been having a dreadful season, so his 1: 46.12 is very welcome. As for Martin, he's showing last season is no fluke. Now if only he can stay at his peak longer than he did last year, when he laid that egg at the NCAA.

Meanwhile, with Bosse, only 20, beating the Kenyans in the B race at Doha and running a 1:45, our array of talented young 800 runners is heating up.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
American Freedom News
Back
Top