Favorite/least favorite event to watch

[Guest]

Let's say you are going to a track meet to watch...not to compete or officiate...just to sit in the stands and watch. What one event is your favorite to watch? What is your least favorite?

Personally, favorite:

1500 meters, followed by 4X400 relay.

Least favorite:

Just about any of the throws. Shot put may get the nod.

[1.97hjsteve]

favorite: 200. Watching those runners whale out of the staggers and head for home is hard to beat.

least favorite: discus. sorry, it just is hard to follow from the stands.

[Guest]

Favorite: high jump. Least favorite: 10,000 or racewalk on the track. 4x1 mile also not so exciting. Too difficult to keep track of.

[vaulter83]

Any event can be exciting if you pay attention to it. I've watched some great discus and shot competitions. I don't think walking could ever be exciting though.

[joel]

For me, nothing matches the 4x100 outdoors and the 4x200 indoors. It's a racecar upshifting four times through the gears.

From a WWF-esque point of view, I like the chaos at the end of a Steeple, womens 400H, or any high school XC race where they all go down like dominoes.

[trackstar]

I like everything except the walks. I just don't get the walks.

I was a rabid distance runner during my competitive days, and still love distance, but I've really fallen in love with the vertical jumps as a spectator. I find the tension so gripping.

[Guest]

OK, if we're not going to have a "Runners World Sucks" thread, how about "Walks Suck"?

[Guest]

Good call on the walks. I didn't even think about that. The walks probably beat out the shot put/discus/javelon/hammer as the least watchable event in track.

[MJR]

Events that the athletes are actually competing to win are my favorite. Time trials are horrible and should be outlawed. It would be SOOO nice to go back to the days when pace making was illegal in all events, no matter the gender. You can turn all scoreboards off and just list the places. Use the old marking system for field events and just let them compete.

Oh, and just because GH and T&FN don't respect the walks, don't break the user agreement by being closeminded.

[Guest]

My favorites are the 100m and 1500m; my least favorite is the long hurdles (an excuse for people who aren't fast enough to compete in the flat quarter!) I'm not even considering the walks, as I do not consider them to be real track and field.

[MJR]

<as I do not consider them to be real track and field>

lemme see....the IAAF controls what events are part of "real" t&f, the walks are part of world champs and olympics as per the IAAF, logically that makes them "real" events, only the to alphabet groups in the US (who can't get out of their own way) decide they are too good to contest the event.

[vaulter83]

"my least favorite is the long hurdles (an excuse for people who aren't fast enough to compete in the flat quarter!)"
Tell that to Felix Sanchez or Angelo Taylor. Or any other world-class 400Hurdler. Sanchez was ranked 1 and 3 in the 400H and 400 by TF&N this last year. Taylor has split 43.X in the relay. And they're still about a second off the WR in the 400H. Of course maybe you're being sarcastic?

[Guest]

>lemme see....the IAAF controls what
>events are part of "real" t&f, the walks are
>part of world champs and olympics as per the
>IAAF, logically that makes them "real" events,>

Reality: Italy and Spain have traditionally had strong walking programs, translating to medals. Primo Nebiolo is no longer the head of the IAAF, Juan Antonio Samaranch is no longer head of the IOC.

Broker says, don't invest heavily in walk futures.

[BillVol]

LOL. What a surprising topic for a T & F board! I like them all, but would have to go with the 100 as my favorite. If a true mile run were used at the Olympics and Worlds, that would be my favorite. I just can't get into the 1500.

[MJR]

Reality: Italy and Spain have
>traditionally had strong walking programs,
>translating to medals. Primo Nebiolo is no longer
>the head of the IAAF, Juan Antonio Samaranch is
>no longer head of the IOC.

Broker says, don't
>invest heavily in walk futures.

You have no idea what you're talking about. Too many members of the IAAF Council are dilligent fans and supporters of the RW, to allow anything negative to happen to it. Its a Champs event in NAIA and will be in NCAA D2 within 10 years too. Also, it will be added to the NFHS Rulebook very soon as well.

This event is not going away.

[runtoo]

The 800M is my fave, technically not a sprint but it sure feels looks and feels like one hitting the curve for the last 200.

[racewalker]

Favorite: Walks (yes, yes - feel free to make the usual snide comments) followed by distance events.
Least Favorite: Pole Vault, although the women's event is starting to convert me.

[jsquire]

I got hooked on track when my high school teammates won the Ohio championship on a come-from-behind 4x400 victory. I'd still think it was the best event anyway.

You can't call yourself a true track nut if you have a least favorite event! When I went to Edmonton, I watched every single moment of competition available. I even got to the stadium at 8 a.m. for the 50k walk -- I swear that besides the stadium workers, I was the only English-speaking person in the stands. When I got out on the course I saw some fans with an Australian flag, so I talked to them for a bit; one girl asked her friend how long it would take. When he said four hours, she was surprised and said she'd assumed it would be more like 30 minutes -- to which he replied "30 minutes? It's 50 bloody K!"

[trackstar]

> my least
>favorite is the long hurdles (an excuse for
>people who aren't fast enough to compete in the
>flat quarter!)

Boy, that's the silliest thing I've ever read. You're saying Edwin Moses was a mediocre athlete?

I had a high school teammate who in 1985 was No. 3 in the nation in the high school equivalent, the 300H. He ran the hurdles because he loved hurdling (his form was utterly perfect -- I've never seen anyone, even on the professional level, who went over the barriers more smoothly) and it was a family tradition -- he had three other brothers who were also top-level hurdlers (state champions, I think, as was he). I assure you, he had he speed to match any flat 400 runner in the nation.

[Guest]

You can't call
>yourself a true track nut if you have a least
>favorite event! When I went to Edmonton, I
>watched every single moment of competition
>available. I even got to the stadium at 8 a.m.
>for the 50k walk -- I swear that besides the
>stadium workers, I was the only English-speaking
>person in the stands. When I got out on the
>course I saw some fans with an Australian flag,
>so I talked to them for a bit; one girl asked her
>friend how long it would take. When he said four
>hours, she was surprised and said she'd assumed
>it would be more like 30 minutes -- to which he
>replied "30 minutes? It's 50 bloody K!"

Wow, watching a 50K walk certainly qualifies you as a track nut. As for myself, the walks bore me to tears. I worked a meet once in with a 10K walk. It was one of the most boring 45 minutes of my life.

[Guest]

Favorite: Steeplechase.
Least Favorite: 200m. (I've been to too many meets with 435 heats of the men's 200.)

[gh]

>You can't call yourself a true track nut if you have a least-favorite event! When I went to Edmonton, I
>watched every single moment of competition
>available. I even got to the stadium at 8 a.m.
>for the 50k walk -- I swear that besides the
>stadium workers, I was the only English-speaking
>person in the stands. >>

Wait a minute! Are you trying to tell me I talked into that microphone for more than four hours and you were the only one listening?! (my bill is in the mail) It did seem like Warsaw when Korzeniowski crossed the line, I must admit.

[Guest]

The middle distances are the ultimate dramas, and the 5K and 10K have provided too many classically gutsy performances to count. So, I guess I would label myself a distance enthusiast.

On the other hand, I just can't seem to get excited over events where heart and mind don't come into play in the course of the competition (i.e. the pure speed events -- anything under 400M).

[tandfman]

>The middle distances are the ultimate dramas<

No, my dear. The ultimate dramas are field events.

[jsquire]

>Wait a minute! Are you trying to tell me I
>talked into that microphone for more than four
>hours and you were the only one listening?! (my
>bill is in the mail) It did seem like Warsaw when
>Korzeniowski crossed the line, I must admit.

Listening? Not the only one. Understanding? Might be.

Although I might admit that I did not hear the entire thing. The battery in my camera died. I walked to the supermarket two blocks down, found nothing, then took the LRT back downtown to Eaton Center and got a battery at a camera store before returning. Didn't seem like I missed much besides Clausen fading from the front.

It's the only 50k walk I've watched in real time. I liked it, but then I might be the only person who thinks marathons might be too short. (To watch, that is; they're plenty long enough to run!)

[jsquire]

>I worked a meet once in with a 10K walk.
>It was one of the most boring 45 minutes of my
>y life.


Any race CAN be boring, if it's not close. Most junior high dual meets are more exciting than the usual GP affair where El G follows pacemakers for YET ANOTHER 3:27. I just don't find an specific event boring as much as a lack of competition. This is why relays are generally fan favorites; they are more likely to have lead changes than individual events.

As for the 50k walk, it would likely have been boring if not for the surroundings. A Worlds is great for people-watching, probably second only to an Olympics. Every local ethnic group was out in full force, as well as the non-American travelers. I was amazed that the same teenager could hold up her sign and yell "Polska! Polska! Polska!" for over two hours.

[BisonHurdler]

>

lemme see....the IAAF controls what
>events are part of "real" t&f, the walks are
>part of world champs and olympics as per the
>IAAF, logically that makes them "real" events,
>only the to alphabet groups in the US (who can't
>get out of their own way) decide they are too
>good to contest the event.




I know you're always up to date on the walks lists Mike, but i think you're forgetting that the IAAF almost dropped the walks altogether from the WC's!

[MJR]

I know you're
>always up to date on the walks lists Mike, but i
>think you're forgetting that the IAAF almost
>dropped the walks altogether from the WC's!

Wrong alphabet group, wrong championship. The IOC wanted it removed from the Olympics. The IAAF refused to allow it to happen.

[BisonHurdler]

Ah, thank you very much for the correction, i kinda had the feeling i was shooting from the hip on that one. I only vaguely remembered hearing about something of the sort.


But, that being said, i've never been in the "walks don't matter" camp. While i haven't invested nearly as much time or interest into following those events, i can't say that i would want to deny the competitors the chance to excel in their event.

And as a guy with chronic shin problems, i can only watch and wince whilst imaging the pain their shin muscles must be in.