Untamed Runner

(Note from a prior post that the 5000M was not added to the women’s Olympic program until 1996 and they started ratifying women’s world records in 1981.)

The early days of the ratified men’s 5000M were dominated by Finland. In his book The Five and Ten Men, Richard Amery acknowledges the unlikelihood of distance running prowess emerging from Finland but the results are the proof. In the six Olympic games from 1912-1936, Finnish men won ten of the eighteen medals in the 5000, including five golds. Swedish runners nabbed four of the others so there was something good in the Scandinavian water those days.

In the six Olympic games after 1936 (no games were held in 1940 or 1944) runners from twelve unique countries earned medals at the distance, compared to the five from 1912-1936. Finland enjoyed more success in the 1970s when Lasse Viren won gold at the 1972 and 1976 Olympics and Kaarlo Maaninka earned bronze at the 1980s games. It wasn’t until later in the 20th century that African domination of distance running emerged.

From 1912 until late 1942, only Finnish runners held the world record at the 5000M and Viren held it for five days in 1972. An African-born runner has held the men’s world record at the 5000M since 1985 and on the women’s side, since 2006. The last time a runner who was not African-born earned a medal in the 5000M at the Olympics was in 1992 for the men and 2000 for women.

In the time periods between Finnish and African domination, it’s interesting to note that a wide variety of countries had athletes who set world records and earned Olympic medals; there was no country or region in that timeframe that could claim the top of the podium in terms of overall success.

Sources used:

Amery, Richard. The Five and Ten Men. Distancedreaming, 2019.

5000 metres – Wikipedia

5000 metres world record progression – Wikipedia

There were three interesting 5000Ms this past week. Two of the three were championship races and one of those plus the third race saw a record fall.

The first was the men’s NCAA 5000M championship. The winner, Parker Wolfe, ran a 1:52 final 800M (which is blazing fast) to win the race in 13:54. This was also noteworthy because Wolfe defeated the first collegiate athlete, Nico Young, to have run under 13:00 for the distance. It’s a good illustration of how a tactical race doesn’t necessarily favor the fastest person in the field.

The women’s NCAA 5000M championship was won by Parker Valby (apparently it was advantageous to be named Parker in the NCAAs) and was never in serious doubt. She had a comfortable lead most of the way and broke her own collegiate record. What was interesting in this race wasn’t the event itself but the predictions for her going forward. She’s dominated the college scene but she apparently runs 3 to 4 days per week, doing the rest of her workouts on an ARC trainer. There’s a lot of talent but what she’ll do at a higher level is unknown. Can that same type of training work or will she need to up her mileage? If the latter, how will that look? She’ll be at the Olympic Trials later this month which will be an early, though not definitive, indicator of how she’ll perform long-term.

The third race was this past weekend and the most interesting outcome was the person who finished 8th, Daniel Simmons. The reason is that this was a high schooler who was racing with pros and he took nine seconds off the national record by posting a 13:25.86. He missed the Olympic Trials automatic standard by .86 seconds but up to 30 people will be invited so he has a good chance at being there. While his chances of making the team are low, that is some significantly good experience at that age. Nine seconds is also lot of time to knock off of a record at that distance.

The trials start on June 21, where the three 5000M participants for Paris will earn their spots.

Sources used:

DyeStat.com

https://www.letsrun.com/

There was a compelling 5000M race in Los Angeles last Friday night. The winning time was 12:51, followed by several others in sub-13:00. The article link is here. There are times when a highly anticipated field disappoints in terms of how the race unfolds and the results. Not so this time, and hopefully it’s a preview of how the Olympic 5000 will turn out. There were a few interesting tidbits, including the following.

After the race, someone suggested that with a talented field at a 5000M in Oslo coming up, maybe the current record holder, Joshua Cheptegei would use that to try and lower his time. However, he indicated he probably wouldn’t be drawn into it because of the Olympics.

Race recovery is typically one day per mile, but there’s also conventional wisdom that runners will circle a key race on the calendar to build up to, including the 5000M. Thus, you’re training through a lot of races and not doing a true taper until the one you feel is most important. Even for the most talented, trained runners, that holds true. While Cheptegei says he’s focusing on the 10000M at the Olympics, he’ll use the same pattern, in that he won’t circle the 5000M record attempt so that he can work up to the 10000M.

The US Olympic Trials are late next month so with those, plus the Diamond League, and the Olympics, it’s a compelling summer for the 5000.

How fast are professional 5K runners going? When looking at times from local 5Ks compared to what the pros are posting, it’s easy to classify the gaps of multiple minutes as astounding or otherworldly but it is possible to appreciate the differences in concrete ways.

The current men’s world record for 5000M is 12:35.36, which is 4:03.07 per mile, or 60.43 seconds per 400M (one lap on a standard outdoor track), or 15.11 seconds per 100M. The women’s world record at 5000M is 14:00.21, or 4:30.4 per mile, or 67.22 seconds per 400M, or 16.8 seconds per 100M.

When watching a 5000M on television, because the cameras often are above the track and removed from the thick of the action, it’s difficult to see the sheer speed at which these athletes are running. To complicate it more, often the nature of someone’s stride can disguise how fast they’re going. Some folks have a gait where it looks like they’re on a recovery run yet they’re going at a blistering pace. But, if the cameras move down to ground view, typically the velocity can easily be seen.

What does this have to do with the history of the 5000M? It establishes that it’s not just a three-plus mile race, it’s a red-lining, three-plus mile race. In the meantime, if you are training and game to see what the world record would feel like, you can head to the local track and see how long you’re able to hold that pace.

Sources used:

5000 metres – Wikipedia

List of United States high school national records in track and field – Wikipedia

With the sheer volume of 5K races out there, picking a handful of notable ones is challenging but here’s one short list.

Before listing them, the 5K may not carry the adrenaline of the sprint race, or the epic grueling grind plus possible final kick of a marathon (and it’s also difficult to have a “watch party” for a race that’s roughly thirteen to fifteen minutes at the elite levels) but the distance lends itself to strategy and simultaneously has nearly no room for error. This makes it compelling in that the runners will enter with a strategy but if things don’t go according to plan, either based on their own bodies or their competitors doing something unexpected, questions arise of whether one sticks with the original strategy or changes with new circumstances. This can make it very exciting as it’s not just about who may have the fastest time or who historically has a superb tactical strategy.

1. Bob Kennedy’s 2001 USATF victory. Kennedy, the first non-African to run under 13:00 at 5000M, was the top American 5000M runner but was moving towards the end of his career while a younger runner named Adam Goucher was Kennedy’s heir apparent at the distance. Many championship races are about tactics instead of time. (Note that the World Record for 5000M is 12:35 while the Olympic record is 12:57, over 20 seconds slower, which equates to around one-third of a lap at that speed.) In this race, Kennedy employed an unusual tactic of alternating laps between blistering pace and then backing off a little. Not expecting this, Goucher wasn’t able to adjust his strategy and Kennedy emerged victorious. To be fair, Kennedy still needed substantial speed to pull it off but he (or his coach) wisely chose to do something in the event Kennedy’s raw leg speed couldn’t match Goucher’s.

2. 1972 Olympic 5000M. Steve Prefontaine is a legend in American and world running and this was his first and, sadly, last Olympics. In this race, he likely could have surrendered the gold in the final laps and raced for the silver or bronze but he made the lunge to take first. Ultimately, he finished fourth during a thrilling finish.

3. 2021 Tokyo Olympics 5000M. Sifan Hassan had won her heat of the 1,500M earlier that morning. She was attempting a 1500M/5000M/10000M triple but after falling in the earlier round and expending the energy to win, she thought victory here was doubtful at best. However, she put herself into position to win, ripped off a 57 second final lap, and took home the gold.

4. 2003 World Championships. This race was expected to be a duel between Hicham El Guerrouj and Kenenisa Bekele. Similar to the race between Kennedy and Goucher from above, El Guerrouj had been on the world stage for several years, though primarily at shorter distances, and Bekele was relatively new. In this case, the race did turn out to be a thriller between these two except that they finished with silver (El Guerrouj) and bronze (Bekele). A little known runner at the time named Eliud Kipchoge emerged barely victorious in front of both of them. Their last laps were blazing fast at 53 seconds. Ironically, Bekele will always be more firmly linked to the distance but that day belonged to someone else.


Sources used:

1972 OG 5,000 meter Final (youtube.com)

2003 World Championships in Athletics – Men’s 5000 metres – Wikipedia

2021 Tokyo Olympics – Sifan Hassan Wins Women’s 5,000 Meters (runnersworld.com)

5000 metres – Wikipedia

Bob Kennedy (runner) – Wikipedia

World Champs 5000m Final, Paris, 2003. (youtube.com)

Before diving into the history of the 5000M and 5K, I note that the two are distinguished from each other: the 5000M is the track version of the distance and the 5K is the road/cross-country version. To attempt to keep my posts from being cluttered, when I’m referring to the 5000M or 5K, I will use 5K unless the distinction is needed for clarity.

In some ways, it’s baffling that the distance lives in the shadows of the popular race conscience, at least among the American population. I assume it forms a significant part of many distance runners’ formative mileage if they run cross-country in high school. It’s the most popular distance in the US for all ages and there is no shortage of holiday-themed 5Ks out there. In theory, it’s a race length people can relate to.

The 5K’s roots go at least all the way back to the ancient Olympics with an event called the dolichos. This was a race that was believed to have been around three miles, though in some cases it may have been longer. In looking for information about the dolichos, I found this article on the history of it. Instead writing a new article, I’m happy to link to one that does an excellent job of outlining this event, while also linking it to our modern understanding and view of the race.

Despite its ancient roots, the first true 5000M in the Olympic games was held in 1912 for men. The Olympics added it to the women’s events in 1996. It was part of the first World Championships for men in 1983 and was added to the women’s program in 1995. (Prior to these years for the women, they ran the 3000M. Interestingly, U.S. high school women were running the 5K as part of cross country at least as far back as 1979, long before the Olympics and World Championships made their changes.)

Suffice to say that a rough version of the distance has been around for a very long time and it forms a common and strong piece of our modern running world among professionals, intense amateurs, and recreational runners.

For the next post, I’ll list four all-time great 5000M races with a brief description of why they belong on that pedestal.

Sources used:

5000 metres – Wikipedia

Before the Marathon, Greeks Ran Track | Runner’s World (runnersworld.com)

Dolichos (race) – Wikipedia

Foot Locker Cross Country (footlockercc.com)

Race Distances for Running Events | RaceRaves

The tagline of the Untamed Runner advertises “Running anecdotes, running food reviews, some race coverage, and more.” That is what the site has featured for nearly six years and in a broad way, it will continue in that way. However, a couple of changes are coming and here is an overview.

Some of my older content is archived. Specifically, I’ve created an archive page for my race recap posts. The original posts are copied in their entirety onto a single page titled Archive, along with their headlines and date stamps. They were removed from the regular feed and the Archive can be accessed from the menu on the front page. In addition, I have several older posts related to running food/nutrition reviews. As these also are listed on the Running Pantry Page, I removed them from the current feed, as well. The goal is to streamline my post listings and make them more easily searched.

My next handful posts will focus on the history of the 5000M and 5K, as well as looks at current races and rankings for them. I find the distance fascinating and while it’s a well-known race and the most popular one for people to run or participate in, it also exists on the periphery of popular running knowledge.

From my own experience, the 5000M/5K is difficult, so much so that I’ve dabbled with the idea of not doing it any longer. Yet, I also love it and keep going back to it. It’s a “fun” course length: long enough to require some strategy but short enough that it’s possible do them in weekly succession if I so choose. I also suspect that since it was my formative racing distance, it’s deeply embedded in my running DNA. For novice runners, it’s a solid distance to do when they’re starting out.

In short, it provides many opportunities to all levels of runners, it exists as a staple distance at the professional level, and there have been some legendary performances in it. Much more to come on the 5000M/5K…

I’ve written a few posts on warm weather running but it’s been a few years since I’ve done a dedicated one to winter running. It’s already February but in our area, March is historically our snowiest month and we’ve had a snowstorm in early May. In other words, this post isn’t completely out of season yet. There are a few things (these are in addition to common sense cold weather preparations like weather-appropriate clothes, hat, gloves, etc.) that I’ll mention .

1. A waterproof jacket, even a shell I can wear on top of a warm layer, is very helpful, especially when it’s snowing.

2. If I’m going for a longer run, I find carrying an extra hat is useful. I did nine miles in a rain/snow mix the other day and when my first hat got soaked, it was very pleasant to reach into my pocket to pull out the second dry and warm one that I’d shoved in before I left.

3. Be careful with your footing. Slipping on ice or packed snow carries no warning. You could have been careful for 4.99 of your 5 miles and wipe out on the final stretch. Or, you could hit a frozen lump of ice and twist an ankle. YakTrax are a great option if you want a device that helps with grip. Even with those, minding your footing is still important as they don’t make you invincible in either circumstance.

As I’ve mentioned in multiple posts, winter running can be done, it just takes a little preparation and the right gear

An additional item about running in London that intrigues me is the distance measurements and times.

When I travel within the U.S. and go to sea level, the difference is noticeable and I feel better and run faster. London is at sea level but while I was there, I didn’t notice the benefit from the oxygen boost that I normally get when I’m at lower elevation. There are multiple possible reasons for this including jet lag, more travel stress, etc. And yet while I felt fine, my pace and time as shown by my watch did not reflect the sea-level advantage.

I would’ve chalked it up to the aforementioned factors and not given it any further thought until I remembered something else. A couple of years ago I ran the virtual London Marathon. Part of doing this included using their app on my phone to track my distance and time for their official statistics. In addition to starting the clock on their app when I toed the line that morning (aka the edge of my driveway) I also used my Garmin watch.

Oddly, the London App said I finished the 26.219 mile distance a short distance before my watch did (I did keep running that day to get the full marathon on my watch, too). I went back into my Garmin data from the marathon and specifically, there was a .574 mile difference between the two devices which comes to .0219 per mile.

In theory, all devices at all times were pulling their signal from a satellite. I’m a publisher and a writer, not a rocket scientist, but in my mind, a satellite is a satellite. After we returned from London a couple of weeks ago, I looked up whether I should have done something to calibrate the watch while I was overseas. According to Garmin, the answer was no. It reinforced my belief that a satellite is a satellite.

Still, it’s interesting that the two times I used “London satellites” I seemed to be getting shorted relative to my watch. As further evidence, based on my past experiences when running at sea level, if I applied the .0219 miles to my 30 minute runs when I was in London earlier this month, I get a distance that makes a lot more sense based on my current speeds.

I suspect that the real answer is that satellites are satellites and two things explain the strange data. The London Marathon App may not have been as robust as the Garmin and/or since it was wedged in my phone belt, maybe the readings got funky. When we were in London, I probably was running on top of jet lag and my speeds just weren’t there. Still, if I’m running overseas again, it will be interesting to see if the results are similar…

We travelled to London over the holidays this year and it’s interesting to note differences between your home and culture compared to where you’re visiting. For example, Heathrow airport is like most big airports in its setup except that you don’t see your flight’s gate assignment until an hour before the plane’s departure. Not a big deal, you just hang out in the main area of shops and restaurants until you get the assignment. The Coca-Cola they served us in restaurants came in a glass bottle, instead of out of a fountain.

I packed my running shoes for London and managed to log a few miles most days that we were there. Our hotel was near Hyde Park which, if you’re not familiar with it, is expansive and offers ample paved and gravel paths. I noticed two small yet distinct differences between running there versus running in the U.S. (Obviously this is a sample size of only several days.)

1. Most people there didn’t use flashlights or headlamps when running or walking in the park before sunrise. I pack a small flashlight when I travel and while it’s there for any situation where it could be useful, I also use it for running in the dark. Most of my running in London was in the pre-dawn hours and while there was ambient light from the city and all the paths were in good shape, I carried the light with me. I wouldn’t say it was necessary but it was definitely helpful, especially since the area was unfamiliar to me. As I saw other people in the park, I noticed that only a couple of them had lights. I don’t mind if others aren’t using lights but it was very different to see no one using them. And, continuing to run up on people that you can’t see until the last second can be a little startling. That being said, there were no “Whoas” or “Watch outs” so perhaps near-misses are just more expected.

2. Dogs were much better behaved. I’ve had unpleasant encounters with off-leash dogs on my local trails and thus I’m on guard when I see one. Many people had their dogs off-leash in Hyde Park and yet, it was a completely different vibe there. None of them were aggressive and many weren’t even barky. I don’t know if it’s a cultural difference, if there are different types of training, or if there are stiffer penalties for a poorly behaved off-leash dog. Whatever the case, it was a difference I enjoyed.

I did venture out to another park one day, Holland Park, which is a little west of Hyde Park. It’s not quite as big so it would be more difficult to do a longer run without repeating a lot of paths. But, it did involve a long up and downhill and there was a runner doing hill repeats on one side of it. It didn’t seem quite as geared for running as Hyde Park but including it in a longer run was worth it.

This wasn’t my first time running in London. I spent a semester there in college and logged many miles all over the city streets. Not too long after that, I went back and again, spent time running. I don’t know how much London is thought of as a “running city” but a lot of people are out there rolling off miles (or kilometers), and there are some wonderful places there for it.