400 meters – The Numbers Game

Ever notice airline magazines and USA Today have those short articles with interesting stats and numbers?
I thought to give it a try with the 400 meters. 
Here goes…
The 400 meters
5800 – Number of subscribers to SpeedEndurance.com
3635 – Age of the current world record (in days)
2010 -  ? Year of the first sub 43 by Usain [...]

Michael Johnson’s 3 Point Plan to Save Athletics

There was some Interesting commentary from Superman (a.k.a. Michael Johnson) on Telegraph.co.uk last week.  Let’s take a closer look at his suggestions:

My three-point plan would be to shorten the competitions and limit the events to only those that most people, in particular young people, are interested in.
Focus on the pure competition between the athletes [...]

200 Meter Speed for the 400 Meters

I was going over the archives of some of my favourite world class quarter-milers, and just wanted an idea on their 100m or 200m times.
This list proves you don’t need to run sub 20.00 for a 200m to break 44, but it certainly helps!
One thing is certain, you must have decent 200m speed if [...]

Sebastian Coe – The Winning Mind: My Inside Track on Great Leadership

Now I know why Sebastian Coe was upset at Dwain Chambers’ book. Because it was released one month before his own book, The Winning Mind.

With all the hype surrounding Chambers’ book, Coe’s book went literally unnoticed.

Anyone who ran track between 1978 and 1984 can remember the intense rivalry between Sebastian Coe and Steve Ovett. [...]

1996 Gold Medal 4×100m Relay Team Inducted to Sports Hall of Fame

1996 Gold Medal 4×100m Relay Team Inducted to Sports Hall of Fame in November 2008.

12 years after winning the Gold medal in Atlanta, the Gold Medal 4×100m Relay Team of Donovan Bailey, Carlton Chambers, Robert Esmie, Glenroy Gilbert and Bruny Surin were inducted to the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame.

Also receiving the honours were David [...]

Last Ten 400 meters Dash Olympic Champions

I was going to post the last ten 400 meters dash Olympic Champions, but decided to post the last 16 Olympic medalists since the post WWII “modern era”.

To read more about these athletes, click on the link under their name. Some names require no introductions.

This list is a classic, but it leaves me with [...]

400 Meters: Can you Drop from 45 to 43 in One Year?

In the 400 meters, can you drop your personal best from 45 seconds down to 43 seconds in one year?
The answer is yes.
In 1967, Lee Evans ran a 44.9 hand time (equivalent to a 45.04 FAT) behind Tommie Smith’s 400 meter World Record of 44.5, then ran 43.86 in Mexico City in 1968.
In 1987, Steve [...]

Bryshon Nellum: Track & Field’s “Next One”

This article was guest written by Jay Hicks of PreraceJitters.com

Byshon Nellum is a phenomenon. Descriptions like “freakish” and “ridiculous” are thrown his way. He is shooting for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and the rising track star is mentioned in the realm of Jeremy Wariner, LaShawn Merritt, and Angelo Taylor.
As a senior in [...]

David Powell’s Top 50 Olympic Athletes List

The world is full of lists. Everyone has their own list on who deserves to be the greatest Olympic athlete.
Here is David Powell’s Top 50 Olympic Athletes List.
50. Merlene Ottey (Jamaica)
49. Frankie Fredericks (Namibia)
48. Gwen Torrence (United States)
47. Harry Hillman (United States)
46. Evelyn Ashford (United States)
45. Alain Mimoun (France)
44. Valeriy Borzov (Soviet Union)
43. Parry [...]

B12 Supplements – The Vitamin B12 Deficiency Debate

Yesterday, I wrote about Why Vitamin B12 is the scapegoat.
People are often asking what is all the hype about Vitamin B12 and why are athletes concerned about causing a deficiency?
The deficiency is most common in a vegetarian diet. Most athletes I know are meat eaters or at least don’t eat red meat (chicken and [...]

Viewing YouTube FLV files with Adobe Media Player

Adobe Media Player is a desktop media player that lets you play QuickTime movies, podcasts and Flash Videos (FLV) files.
Most people are familiar with Windows Media Player or Real Player.
My popular article on Saving YouTube and Blip.tv Files for your iPod or Computer explained how to extract and play FLV files with WinFF or [...]

World Masters Athletics 2007 – M40 200 meters Heat 9

When you have over 81 entrants, 4 qualifying rounds are required by the IAAF. With 89 declared competitors, we had 12 heats where the top 3 places and 4 fastest times (i.e. “3P4T”) advanced to the Quarter-Final round of 40 athletes.
You can simply click the image below (FLV version, browser ready), or click here [...]

Sebastian Coe Videos – Born to Run

Many thanks to Albert Caruana from CrossCountryExpress for this link.
These videos are the Sebastian Coe “Born to Run” series.
Next to the 400 meters, the 800 meters is probably the toughest event. I really can’t imagine running a 400 meters in sub 50, and hearing the bell lap to run another lap.
We all remember the [...]

Comparing 4×400m World Records of 2:56.16

In both the 1968 and 1988 Olympics, USA ran the exact same time of 2:56.16 in the 4×400m relay 20 years apart. (1968 was set in altitude in Mexico City).
The roll call for 1968 was Vincent Matthews, Ron Freeman, Larry James, and Lee Evans.
In 1988, it was Danny Everett, Steve Lewis, Kevin Robinzine, and [...]

Top 10 Sprint Races – #6 – 4×400m Relay World Record in Barcelona 1992

The World and Olympic 4×400 meter relay record was tied at 2:56.16 set in the 1968 & 1988 Olympic finals.
The 1992 USA Olympic Trials were controversial enough with the appearance of Butch Reynolds and the IAAF “tainted” rule, thus the 400m was delayed several days. He was “named” to the relay pool, but was [...]

Top 10 Sprint Races – #7 – Quincy Watts 400m in Barcelona 1992

Barcelona 1992. The Men’s 400-meter Olympic final.
You knew something special was going to happen when Quincy ran 43.71 in the semi-finals!
An American sweep in the individual 400 meters was not possible as in 1988 (or 1968), as Danny Everett’s achilles problems prevented him from advancing past the semi-finals.
Quincy Watts destroyed the field running [...]

Speedlinking: The Complete Guide to 400 Meter Training

UPDATE: download Clyde Hart’s 60 page Training Manual from the 2007 USATF NPEP Conference.

Speedlinking is a term to define a collection (or handful) of good posts on a particular topic, very similar to a Blog Carnival.
Here is a collection of workouts and race strategies from around the world:
From Speedendurance.com’s archives:

Clyde Hart Training Seminar Notes
Differences [...]

Race Strategy – How to run the 400 meters

What’s the best way to run the 400 meters?
Go hard for 300 meters and hang on; and if you die, you die? Or run even pace splits?
Both work depending on your conditioning and experience. Once you have a race plan, you stick with it. Of course, talk it over with your coach [...]