With the 2nd World Relays fresh in our memories, I got to thinking about what the ULTIMATE Relay World Records could be.
It's difficult to guess at Sprint Relay ultimates, for a couple of reasons.
1. You can't really get accurate split times, given the running starts, and each team's varied use of the passing zone.
2. There's the NECESSITY for PERFECT passes, which rarely, if ever....errr....comes to pass!! LOL
So I'm going to take a look, for both Men and Women, at what's possible for the following Relays:
Distance Medley (DMR)
4X1500
4X1Mile
I'll look at this mainly from the POV of the United States, but will offer a guess about a team from, say, Kenya.
Here goes, Men first.
DMR (9:15.50)
Four guys from 1 nation just ran the DMR in 9:15.50.
Could we see---in the next few years---a time of UNDER 9 minutes?
And if so, what would it take?
Matthew Centrowitz 2:45.00 (2:45.00)
LaShawn Merritt 43.50 (3:28.50)
Duane Solomon 1:42.50 (5:11.00)
Leo Manzano 3:48.00 (8:59.00)
Unrealistic?
Sure.
(Well, maybe!)
So let's look at what it would take for a 9:04.00 time, which would still shatter the WR by 11.50 seconds!
Centro 2:47 (2:47)
Merritt 44.00 (3:31)
Solomon 1:43 (5:14)
Manzano 3:50 (9:04)
Okay, so what about the chances of a Women's team crashing through the 10 minute barrier....a full 36.51 seconds below the recent WR?
I'd say it's CURRENTLY impossible!!
Here's the best current American 4-some, running their best times!
Rowbury 3:08 (3:08)
SRR 48.7 (3:56.7)
Montano 1:57.3 (5:54.0)
Simpson 4:13 (10:07.0)
The time for Rowbury is based on her 2:00 800 speed, combined with her 3:59 1500 PR.
Simpson's time would be an extension of her 3:57 1500, with 16 seconds added for the last 100)
But while not breaking a MAJOR barrier, it still DESTROYS the new WR by 29.5 seconds!!
And BTW, I could create 2 or 3 (or 4 or 5??) US teams---all different from each other---no repeat use of athletes!----and ALL of them would at least break the current WR----easily!!
4X1500 (14:22.22)
That WR was by a pretty loaded Kenyan quartet at the 2014 World Relays.
But can a US team break it?
And could they break through the 14 minute barrier?
I'm saying----right now----NO!!
BUT....they CAN run about 14:06, which would break the WR by 16.2 seconds!
Ben Blankenship 3:33.0 (3:33.0)
Centro 3:31.0 (7:04.0)
Will Leer 3:32.0 (10:36.0)
Manzano 3:30.0 (14:06.0)
Could a top Kenyan team run faster?
AND get through to a 13+ time?
YES!
Ron Kwemboi 3:28.8 (3:28.8)
Caleb Ndiku 3:29.5 (6:58.3)
Silas Kiplagat 3:27.6 (10:25.9)
Asbel Kiprop 3:27.7 (13:53.6)
You could ADD 1.50 seconds per leg (Kwemboi-3:30.3....Ndiku-3:31.0.....Kiplagat-3:29.1....Kiprop-3:29.2) and get a final time of 13:59.60!!
The Women's 4X1500 WR is Kenya's 16:33.58 from the 2014 World Relays.
Everyone said that team could have run MUCH faster, if pushed----which they were NOT!
The US team ran the AR time of 16:55.33.....also a time that could EASILY have been bettered!
But can ANY team get into the 15's---go below 16:00?
YES!
Even a US team made up of CURRENTLY active athletes.
Morgan Uceny 4:00.06 (4:00.06)
Anna Willard 3:59.38 (7:59.44)
Shannon Rowbury 3:59.49 (11:58.93)
Jenny Simpson 3:57.22 (15:56.15)
They could each slow down by 0.84+ seconds, and still go under 16 minutes.
But of course, that's not realistic, right?
So let's see what that same team would need for a 16:04.
Uceny would go out in a 4:02.
Willard might also get a 4:02.
Rowbury and Simpson would then need to run their 1500's in 4:00 each (with maybe Rowbury at 4:01 and Simpson doing 3:59).
Doable, yes.
Probable, no.
But how MANY American teams could break that WR of 16:33?
SEVERAL!
My Top 24 list for the USA lists 10 women with times of 4:04.62 or faster.
I have no idea how many CURRENTLY ACTIVE American women there are with times of at least 4:08.25 (one-fourth of 16:33!!) down to Mary Cain's aforementioned 4:04.62, which is 24th on my list!!
But I'd guess there's enough for maybe FOUR (or even FIVE!!) teams, including the 10 from the Top 24 already mentioned.
But even if you slowed that 4-some down by a full five seconds each, you'd still get a time of 16:16, which would smash the Kenyan WR by 17 seconds!!
Now let's look at the 4XMile.
And YES, there's a listed 4XMile Relay record for Women!!
(I'll get to that in a minute!)
The current WR for the Men is Ireland's 1985 mark of 15:49.08.
That's an average of 3:57.27 per leg!
Come on, folks, how many US teams----let alone Kenyan!----could be created with athletes capable of a 3:57 mile?
Here's my US team, with their current PR's.
(I'm NOT putting Bernard Lagat on this team, even though he's run 3:48.38 as an American citizen. He'd be 5 or 6 seconds slower now!)
(All times are OUTdoor times, so Galen Rupp's INdoor time of 3:50.92 is NOT included here!!)
Andy Wheating 3:51.74 (3:51.74)
Lopez Lomong 3:51.45 (7:43.19)
Leo Manzano 3:50.64 (11:33.83)
Centro 3:50.53 (15:24.36)
That breaks the current WR by 24.72 seconds, or an average per mile of 3:51.09!!!
Could a top Kenyan team break THAT mark?
Yes!
I don't have a lengthy Kenyan All-Time list, so I'll give the first 2 runners times of 3:50.0 each.
Then you add Kiprop and Kiplagat, with their PR's of about 3:48, and you've got a final time of 15:16.0!!
Again, how many US (or Kenyan!!!) teams could be created that would SMASH Ireland's WR to pieces?
MANY!!
Easily!!
So how about the Women?
I had to look it up to find a WR 4XMile by the female gender.
Want to guess what it is?
Based on my research, it is held by a COLLEGIATE team from the University of Oregon.
They ran it in 18:39.58 in 1985....30 years ago!!
And it was done on May 3rd----probably at that year's Oregon Twilight meet, though I'm not sure!---so it's almost EXACTLY 30 years ago!!
Kathy Hayes, Leann Warren, and Claudette Groendaal, three of UO's biggest EVER stars, comprised 3 of the 4 legs.
(Not totally related here, but if you want to see a GREAT movie about that 1985 Women's team----and the 2011 UO Women's team, featuring such athletes as English Gardner and Jordan Hasay, please seek out the DVD of "We Grew Wings". It's available on Amazon, I believe! I own it, and it's WONDERFUL!!)
Anyway, back to WR possibilities for the 4XMile Relay for Women!!
E-A-S-Y!!!
That's just approximately 4:39.89 for each (FULL) Mile leg!
If you made up a team of the 4 best High School Milers from recent years----those still active---you'd get a time of about 18:14 (Maybe Sarah Feeny or Wesley Frazier at 4:39, then Elise Cranny at an estimated 4:28--based on her 1500 PR!--then Alexa Efraimson at 4:24--again based on her 1500 best---then Mary Cain's 4:21---a time based on her 4:04 time at 1500, adding a 17 second last 109 meters!!), which bests the UO time by about 25 seconds!
Anyway, there's a few DOZEN teams from the US---or at least it's SEEMING that way recently!!---which could run (pun intended!) that record into the ground!!
With a team of Cain, Rowbury, Martinez, and Simpson, you could probably get a time of UNDER 17:20!!!
That's a full one minute and 19 seconds better than UO's mark!!
That's 4:20 per Mile, but their 1500 splits enroute would be "only" about 4:03 each---well within the capabilities of those 4 runners. Well, maybe not Cain----YET!! But you get the picture!!
So there you have it.
Three different Relays---or six, 3 for each gender!---with WR's being an ironclad certainty!!
Before I close, I'd like to correct a couple of athlete identity errors I made in my World Relays report a few days ago!
In the Men's 4X200, the baton pass foul-up did NOT involve Justin Gatlin, as I'd stated!
It happened with the 2nd and 3rd runners, Isaiah Young and Curtis Mitchell.
Gatlin ran a GREAT anchor, even though the US team had already caused a DQ!
Also, it was NOT Gatlin who faced Usain Bolt down the stretch of the 4X100.
It was Ryan Bailey!
(BTW, much has been made of his post-race imitation of Bolt's stance, and him basically dissing The Great One! It's all over the internet and the fine folks at Let's Run!! LOL)
Gatlin ran the 2nd leg of that final!
Here's some other new info from the Bahamas.
Chris Brown, age 36, ran his anchor for the home team in 44.17!!
Jeremy Wariner ran the heat and final for the US 4X400 team.
His times were good---44.87 and 44.80.
Natoya Goule, normally an 800 runner, ran her 400 leg in 51.72.
Watch out for her at the NCAA's!!
Phyllis Francis ran 49.74 in the heats for the US team!
And Nigeria's winning time in that shocking Women's 4X200 was a National Record--their time being 1:30.52.
Before I close, here's more new marks worth noting!
(And one correction!)
The correction is about Jessica Furlan, who ran the 3000SC at Payton Jordan in 9:39.20.
I'd said she was from the US!
She's not.
She's a Canadian, so her time is OFF my US list!!
Conor McCullough threw the Hammer to a PR of 248-11.
He moves from 17th to 7th on the A-T Collegiate list!
And he's now on the US list, at 11th, but tied with 1 other.
Brittany Smith has a new SP best---62-2.50!
She remains 9th A-T US, but she's no longer tied with 2 others!!
Brooke Pleger improved her HT best to 228-0.
She moves from 11th to 9th on the A-T Collegiate list.
And she moves from 21st to 18th on the US list!!
Finally, while NOT a PR, Kara Winger (formerly Patterson!) threw the Javelin 218-1 last weekend!
That's just 7 inches from her American Record!
(And she had 3 more throws at around 207, making this her best-EVER series!!)
Next post will be on Sunday.....or early Monday.
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