{"id":30805,"date":"2019-04-25T12:52:06","date_gmt":"2019-04-25T19:52:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trackandfieldnews.com\/?post_type=article&p=30805"},"modified":"2019-04-25T13:23:26","modified_gmt":"2019-04-25T20:23:26","slug":"from-the-editor-the-400-is-a-great-race-but-it-could-be-better","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/trackandfieldnews.com\/article\/from-the-editor-the-400-is-a-great-race-but-it-could-be-better\/","title":{"rendered":"From The Editor \u2014 The 400 Is A Great Race\u2026 But It Could Be Better"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"IF YOU\u2019RE A BIG FAN of 1-lap racing\u2014and who among us isn\u2019t?\u2014you\u2019ll love this month\u2019s edition, as we check out Michael Norman<\/a> working some serious magic, have a nice long chat with Fred Kerley<\/a> and analyze the overall U.S. men\u2019s scene<\/a> in the event.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no question that the 400\u2014men or women\u2014is one of my favorite running events, simply because it\u2019s the longest event where people are running so close to all-out for such an extended period of time. I\u2019ve never quite understood how quartermilers can push themselves to the limit so much and not end up inspecting the contents of their stomach right after the race. That\u2019s certainly the memory this triple jumper took away from his times being drafted for 4×4 duty. So my giving the 400 \u201cfavorite\u201d status is fan-related. It\u2019s not something I\u2019d like to actually do on a regular (or even irregular) basis.<\/p>\n

But the headline to this column says the 400 could be better. It\u2019s all about lanes and head-to-head racing, as opposed to being stuck alone. As a backdrop to that statement, let me digress and refer you to the \u201976 Olympic 800, which featured one of the IAAF\u2019s most ill-conceived rule changes ever: the 2-turn stagger. That\u2019s right, instead of breaking for the pole after the first curve, they stayed in lanes until they entered the homestretch, meaning that instead of fighting for position after 100m they went head-to-head only after 300m had expired. Almost 40% of the race had all the drama sucked out of it. Fortunately, that protocol was quickly consigned to the garbage heap of history.<\/p>\n

the 400 should be run like the 800, with a break to the pole after the first 100m.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

If the 800 was improved by having everybody run together longer, doesn\u2019t it follow that the 400 could similarly benefit? As it is, too many 400s are simply too hard for the fans to follow, even if there\u2019s an ace announcer who is able to do a good job of sorting out who\u2019s ahead of whom in the staggers. Not until the race enters the homestretch\u2014after 75% of the race has been run\u2014is relative position confirmed. I think the fans deserve better. And so do the athletes, who are spread out across 8 or 9 lanes and have little idea where their competition is.<\/p>\n

My take? As I\u2019ve suggested in this space before, the 400 should be run like the 800, with a break to the pole after the first 100m. Yes, the 400 people are probably bigger, stronger\u2014and definitely running faster\u2014than the halfmilers, and while I\u2019m not advocating that we create a martial arts division, a little more close-quarters running would provide a lot more excitement. Look at how short-track speedskating became an instant sensation in the Winter Olympics. I think the athletes would find it a much fairer way to race too, given that the lane draw goes such a long way towards deciding who finishes where. If it turns out that this creates a too-rough situation, simply cut the number of racers from 8 to 6.<\/p>\n

And while we\u2019re tinkering with the 400, let\u2019s extend the lanes-are-bad concept to the 4×4 as well. That race, it says here, lost some of its excitement when the 3-turn stagger was introduced. Not only does that necessitate such a big differentiation in staggers that the first leg is nigh on impossible for a fan to figure out until the actual handoffs, but it also robs the race of another 100m of what should be serious head-to-head racing. Go back to the 2-turn stagger (or, following my individual 400 thinking, a 1-turn stagger).<\/p>\n

But that\u2019s not all. Current rules mandate that the athletes receiving the baton line up in the order of their teams when they enter the final bend. That\u2019s nuts. There\u2019s no end of changing positions with half the carry still to go. At worst, the order should be determined as they enter the straightaway, but my druthers would be\u2014as it was in the wild, wild west\u2014to let the runners continue to sort themselves out until the very last seconds before the handoff. Injecting more life into any event is nothing but a good thing.<\/p>\n

My oft-stated solution to making the 400 more exciting without running the risk of turning it into Roller Derby is to change the event from a 400 to a 500. I can only imagine that most of the athletes would hate it (uh, oh\u2014here comes breakfast as well as lunch!), but I can see it as a fan favorite. A staggered start at the 100 line, breaking for the pole at the curve and running an entire lap not in lanes.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, there may be a better way to do it, but who among us isn\u2019t tingling with anticipation as the race for the first sub-43 has ramped up a notch? \u25a1<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

IF YOU\u2019RE A BIG FAN of 1-lap racing\u2014and who among us isn\u2019t?\u2014you\u2019ll love this month\u2019s edition, as we check out… Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":13524,"menu_order":3055,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"issuem_issue":[704],"issuem_issue_categories":[52,31],"issuem_issue_tags":[],"class_list":["post-30805","article","type-article","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","issuem_issue-april-2019","issuem_issue_categories-departments","issuem_issue_categories-from-the-editor"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nFrom The Editor \u2014 The 400 Is A Great Race\u2026 But It Could Be Better - Track & Field News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/trackandfieldnews.com\/article\/from-the-editor-the-400-is-a-great-race-but-it-could-be-better\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"From The Editor \u2014 The 400 Is A Great Race\u2026 But It Could Be Better - Track & Field News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"IF YOU\u2019RE A BIG FAN of 1-lap racing\u2014and who among us isn\u2019t?\u2014you\u2019ll love this month\u2019s edition, as we check out... Read More\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/trackandfieldnews.com\/article\/from-the-editor-the-400-is-a-great-race-but-it-could-be-better\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Track & Field News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-04-25T20:23:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/trackandfieldnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/from-editor-no-fte-nu-feat.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"667\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/trackandfieldnews.com\/article\/from-the-editor-the-400-is-a-great-race-but-it-could-be-better\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/trackandfieldnews.com\/article\/from-the-editor-the-400-is-a-great-race-but-it-could-be-better\/\",\"name\":\"From The Editor \u2014 The 400 Is A Great Race\u2026 But It Could Be Better - Track & Field News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/trackandfieldnews.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/trackandfieldnews.com\/article\/from-the-editor-the-400-is-a-great-race-but-it-could-be-better\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/trackandfieldnews.com\/article\/from-the-editor-the-400-is-a-great-race-but-it-could-be-better\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/trackandfieldnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/from-editor-no-fte-nu-feat.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-04-25T19:52:06+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-04-25T20:23:26+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/trackandfieldnews.com\/article\/from-the-editor-the-400-is-a-great-race-but-it-could-be-better\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/trackandfieldnews.com\/article\/from-the-editor-the-400-is-a-great-race-but-it-could-be-better\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/trackandfieldnews.com\/article\/from-the-editor-the-400-is-a-great-race-but-it-could-be-better\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/trackandfieldnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/from-editor-no-fte-nu-feat.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/trackandfieldnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/from-editor-no-fte-nu-feat.jpg\",\"width\":\"1000\",\"height\":\"667\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/trackandfieldnews.com\/article\/from-the-editor-the-400-is-a-great-race-but-it-could-be-better\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/trackandfieldnews.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Articles\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/trackandfieldnews.com\/article\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"From The Editor \u2014 The 400 Is A Great Race\u2026 But It Could Be Better\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/trackandfieldnews.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/trackandfieldnews.com\/\",\"name\":\"Track & Field News\",\"description\":\"The Bible of the Sport Since 1948\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/trackandfieldnews.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"From The Editor \u2014 The 400 Is A Great Race\u2026 But It Could Be Better - Track & Field News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/trackandfieldnews.com\/article\/from-the-editor-the-400-is-a-great-race-but-it-could-be-better\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"From The Editor \u2014 The 400 Is A Great Race\u2026 But It Could Be Better - Track & Field News","og_description":"IF YOU\u2019RE A BIG FAN of 1-lap racing\u2014and who among us isn\u2019t?\u2014you\u2019ll love this month\u2019s edition, as we check out... Read More","og_url":"https:\/\/trackandfieldnews.com\/article\/from-the-editor-the-400-is-a-great-race-but-it-could-be-better\/","og_site_name":"Track & Field News","article_modified_time":"2019-04-25T20:23:26+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1000,"height":667,"url":"https:\/\/trackandfieldnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/from-editor-no-fte-nu-feat.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/trackandfieldnews.com\/article\/from-the-editor-the-400-is-a-great-race-but-it-could-be-better\/","url":"https:\/\/trackandfieldnews.com\/article\/from-the-editor-the-400-is-a-great-race-but-it-could-be-better\/","name":"From The Editor \u2014 The 400 Is A Great Race\u2026 But It Could Be Better - Track & Field News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/trackandfieldnews.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/trackandfieldnews.com\/article\/from-the-editor-the-400-is-a-great-race-but-it-could-be-better\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/trackandfieldnews.com\/article\/from-the-editor-the-400-is-a-great-race-but-it-could-be-better\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/trackandfieldnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/from-editor-no-fte-nu-feat.jpg","datePublished":"2019-04-25T19:52:06+00:00","dateModified":"2019-04-25T20:23:26+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/trackandfieldnews.com\/article\/from-the-editor-the-400-is-a-great-race-but-it-could-be-better\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/trackandfieldnews.com\/article\/from-the-editor-the-400-is-a-great-race-but-it-could-be-better\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/trackandfieldnews.com\/article\/from-the-editor-the-400-is-a-great-race-but-it-could-be-better\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/trackandfieldnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/from-editor-no-fte-nu-feat.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/trackandfieldnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/from-editor-no-fte-nu-feat.jpg","width":"1000","height":"667"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/trackandfieldnews.com\/article\/from-the-editor-the-400-is-a-great-race-but-it-could-be-better\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/trackandfieldnews.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Articles","item":"https:\/\/trackandfieldnews.com\/article\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"From The Editor \u2014 The 400 Is A Great Race\u2026 But It Could Be Better"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/trackandfieldnews.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/trackandfieldnews.com\/","name":"Track & Field News","description":"The Bible of the Sport Since 1948","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/trackandfieldnews.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/trackandfieldnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/30805","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/trackandfieldnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/trackandfieldnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/article"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trackandfieldnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trackandfieldnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30805"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/trackandfieldnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/30805\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30810,"href":"https:\/\/trackandfieldnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/30805\/revisions\/30810"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trackandfieldnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13524"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/trackandfieldnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30805"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"issuem_issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trackandfieldnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issuem_issue?post=30805"},{"taxonomy":"issuem_issue_categories","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trackandfieldnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issuem_issue_categories?post=30805"},{"taxonomy":"issuem_issue_tags","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trackandfieldnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issuem_issue_tags?post=30805"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}