The way of the "400" Thanks to KK

Matt Lynch apparently, just run 46.4 (there abouts) in a race in Newcastle (NSW - Australia) and won the race by at least 10m

Hunter Track Classic
Newcastle - Sat 21st Jan 2012

Men 400 metre Open
1 Lynch, Matt New South Wales 46.45 (PB)
2 Cummings, Paul New South Wales 47.61
3 Ralph, Joshua New South Wales 48.07
4 Grimm, James New South Wales 48.36
5 Smellie, Martin New South Wales 48.48
6 Thistleton, James Act 48.89
7 Kermond, James New South Wales 49.06
8 Connolly, Tommy Queensland 49.66

Well done to the 400m NSWIS Fast Track team - great breakthrough by Matt Lynch. Makes Lynch number 2 in 2012 behind Ben Offereins (46.20). Conditions weren’t great in Newcastle, and he really had no-on to push him to the line as he went hard from the gun and had a good lead by the 300m which makes the run all the better. The women’s 400m was won by Tamsyn Manou in a slowish 53.14, which suggests the conditions were tough for the quarter milers.

In the 200m, Lynch’s stablemate Kevin Moore (PB 46.13) ran 21.39 (-0.9) and has a 400m lined up this Saturday (28th Jan) in Adelaide. All the big guns are in Adelaide - Offereins, Steffensen, Solomon, Wroe, Troode. Should be a cracking race.

Someone has pulled out of the Adelaide men’s 400m and Matt Lynch, winner of the Hunter TC race, has today been invited into the race. Needless to say, AA expect him to find his own way from Gosford to Adelaide and back and come good for the airfares, accommodation and meals. They’re not bad. I know Matt and like most student-athletes, he works part-time which can be onerous given the intensity and regularity of his training regime and he can ill afford the cost of interstate travel.

Yet, under the rules AA have created as guardians of the sport anyone who is accepted but declines to race in any of the three designated obligatory meets - Adelaide, Perth and Sydney - is automatically ruled ineligible for Olympic team selection.

It is, IMHO, nothing short of an outrage. The unmitigated arrogance of those who designed and/or approved of this aspect of the selection criteria is simply stunning. There apparently is no hardship clause. The only way out of this entrapment is for the incapacitated athlete to provide a medical certificate and go through the relative indignity of pleading their case to some faceless bureaucrat at AA who will suspect them of lying and, if they are, they’ll have been most likely forced into it as AA put promotion ahead of high performance. And they wonder why they had no individual track athletes in Daegu from 100 through to and including the 800m - men or women!

Speaking to a bloke who is ‘in the know’ earlier this morning and I believe Matt Lynch will be in Adelaide to run the 400m, as the funding has been found. Adds another quality in-form athlete to the field. Not sure who Matt Lynch is replacing. I guess we will find out when AA update the start lists.

Chasing gift money ended the career of Ambrose Ezenwa a few years a ago when he choose to run in gift over grand prix, he ended up straining a Achilles
on uneven grass, required surgery, retired after unsuccessful comeback from surgery.

Adelaide Track Classic
Saturday 28th January 2012

Mens 400m
Alex Beck QAS
Jarryd Buchan VIC
Alex Carew VIC
Matt Lynch NSW
Kevin Moore NSWIS
Ben Offereins WAIS
Sean Wroe VIS
Clay Watkins SAIS

Unfortunately John Steffensen, Steve Solomon and Chris Troode have pulled out, but with Offereins there with Moore, Lynch & Wroe it should still be a very good race.

Thanks. Youngy is this the lane draw too? I cannot imagine Eric Hollingsworth, who does not coach Sean Wroe, would allow Wroe to be drawn outside of the favoured four lanes. There will be intervention if he is because the AA high performance manager, who does not coach Sean Wroe, apparently still cares and would only be acting to right a wrong.

On another mnatter - I spoke to Solomon’s coach Fira Dvoskina and she indicated Steve is at the AIS and training only at 70 per cent of max speed, which she agreed is totally aerobic. With the Olympic Trials only 5 weeks away I would doubt he could be ready to race by then (March 1-3) and even if he was, he’d come in underdone and may do his selection prospects a disservice. At least under the Australian system there is actually a process of selection which can give athletes extra time for find form and run qualifiers. My guess is Solomon will provide medical certificate and ask for that extra time. For those who care to know, Solomon is the schoolboy who at 17 last April won the Oz Open national title in 45.5. He shredded his hammy at a school carnival in Sydney in September or October 2011 in a 200m race at the halfway but ran it out in 21.2sec, hence the long convalescence.

The names are listed in alphapbetical order. Lane draw will be done on the day of the race, once all athletes have checked in.

The track record for SANTOS stadium, Adelaide is 45.54, by Michael Rehardt (QLD) on 23/03/2002. The first four past the post in that race all broke 46s. (Paul Pearce 45.84; Clinton Hill 45.85; Patrick Dwyer 45.95).

The only other sub 46s times at SANTOS stadium were in 2005 when Michael Blackwood 45.68 beat Daniel Batman 45.98 on 19th Feb 2005.

The best recent time was Joel Milburn running 46.17 in March 2010.

After reading about the “geniuses” running AA, and knowing how the italian federation is ruled, I wonder if there is an MBA in how to complicate things for athletes and coaches, attended by track federation’s rulers…

Surely all the incumbents in the AA office, if not also the Italian Federation, are already graduates with honours!

Athletics Australia-T&F Champ - Organization License
2012 Adelaide Track Classic
Santos Stadium, South Australia - 28/01/2012

Event 26 Men 400 Metre Open

Name                    Year Team                    Finals  Points

=======================================================================
Finals
1 Ben Offereins WAIS 46.16
2 Matt Lynch NSW 46.48
3 Sean Wroe VIS 46.69
4 Kevin Moore NSWIS 46.86
5 Alexander Carew VIC 47.02
6 Clay Watkins SASI 47.40
7 Jarryd Buchan VIC 47.78
8 Andrew Giam 89 SA 49.59

Still many errors in execution of race plan but Lynch is getting it together. Arm swing and elbow angles poor final 50m - plenty of obvious gains there in a hurry if the training advocated is adhered to. With Kevin Moore, his proprioception deserted him on the back straight and he chopped his stride dramatically entering through the 200m start zone while his opponents stayed open and swept by. Kev did nothing through the third 100m segment and was trailing world student games medallist Sean Wroe by 7m with 50m to go. BUt Moore woke up and charged to the line 4th just a stride behind Sean. Much room for improvement but Kev was blindsided out in lane 6 and had not run a competitive 400m since early December.

Same day as this Adelaide GP, another 400m Fast Track squaddie, James Grimm, won the 400m in a stroll at the NSW Country champs in Newcastle and backed up to win the 200m next day in 21.55 into a 4m/psec headwind.

MEDALS CLEAN SWEEP TO COACH STUART MILLER

2012 NSW Country Track & Field Championships - 27/01/2012 to 29/01/2012
Athletics NSW
Hunter Sports Center, Glendale
Results - Sunday Track-Afternoon
Event 393 Men 200 metre Open

Meet Record: R 20.90 1973 Leo Hollesteele, LIT
Name Age Team Finals

Section 1 Finals Wind: -4.0
1 3168 Grimm, James 21 Athletics Wo 21.55 *
2 3454 Leeson., Brodie 18 Athletics Wo 22.28
3 3490 Miller, Justin 28 Athletics Wo 22.46

4 4016 Egan, Harry 25 Maquarie Hunter 22.74
5 582 Parry, Lachlan 21 Illawarra Bl 22.96
6 581 Parry, Joshua 23 Illawarra Bl 22.99
7 3186 Farrell, Benjamin 20 Arm (Armidale) 23.71
8 2307 Meers, Elliot 20 Maitland Sen 24.33
9 3096 McKay, Joshua 20 Athletics Wo 25.55

  • Age refers to the age the athlete turns in 2012. None of the podium finishers will celebrate a birthday for quite a while yet. Leeson at 17 appears a good prospect for the 400m in time.
    Justin Miller won the 100m title; Grimm also ran two rounds of 400m to win that title a day earlier. After the 200m sweep the boys received a standing ovation (but not from the rival Wollongong club, Illawarra Blue Stars, apparently. This trio departed the Blue Stars to join Athletics Wollongong after State Relays Champs early this season due to consistent meddling in their coaching affairs by a certain Blue Stars administrator who always thinks she knows better).

ouch!!!

One of my athletes had a session of 2 x 2 x 400m with the aim of running sub 28. The recovery was 200m jog between reps and 15 minutes between sets.

His first set he did it in 26.1 and 27.1 (Hand Timed). The second set he only did one in 30. I wasn’t at the session, unfortunately/

Any ideas what you should run? I was thinking around 54

I’m guessing that is 2 x 2 x 200m. What were the starts? For example, standing start for first 200 and fly-in for second?

Best,
Christopher

Yes Christopher that is correct, I was typing it during my recovery during weights…

Off a Standing start

I would tend to ignore the second set and look at the first. I have a female sprinter who is very close to those numbers and she is 56. However, she tends to have better recovery and less speed, and she can use that 200 jog to recover pretty well, so your athlete might go 55; 54 seems a bit quick but within reach. I have written speed reduction curve fitting apps that do extremely well given two or three fly sprints at different distances (e.g. 30 fly and 200 fly). Let me know if you have a recent short and long fly and I’ll try that.

Best,
Christopher

I was just looking Athletics Australia all time list for 400 and decided to see if I could find the top 20 400m runners, personal bests for 100 and 200. sources are AT rankings (all-time) and IAAF sites. The suggested times are calculated as follows.

200(1) = (400m Time - 3.5)/2
400 (2) = (200m time x 2) + 3.5

Suggest times
Rank Athlete 100 200 400 200 (1) 400 (2)

1 Darren Clark 10.47 20.49 44.38 20.44 44.48
2 Miles Murphy 20.59 44.71 20.605 44.68
3 Pat Dwyer 20.6 44.73 20.615 44.7
3 John Steffensen 20.79 44.73 20.615 45.08
4 Joel Milburn 10.85 21.41 44.8 20.65 46.32
5 Rick Mitchell 21.04 44.84 20.67 45.58
6 Ben Offereins 10.6 21 44.86 20.68 45.5
7 Robert Stone 20.44 44.98 20.74 44.38
8 Daniel Batman 10.19 20.44 45.02 20.76 44.38
9 Clinton Hill 45.06 20.78
10 Sean Wroe 10.52 20.97 45.07 20.785 45.44
11 Mark Garner 20.82 45.08 20.79 45.14
12 Paul Greene 10.48 20.94 45.16 20.83 45.38
13 Bruce Frayne 10.45 20.59 45.21 20.855 44.68
14 Casey Vincent 21.14 45.3 20.9 45.78
15 Chris Troode 10.69 21.41 45.42 20.96 46.32
16 Dean Capobianco 10.25 20.18 45.47 20.985 43.86
17 Brad Jamieson 21.45 45.5 21 46.4
18 Michael Rehardt 21.21 45.54 21.02 45.92
19 Declan Stack 45.55 21.025
20 Steve Solomon 45.58 21.04

The times are in the following order 100m, 200m, 400m, suggested 200m and suggested 400m

I have been following a training scheme for my athletes based on this thread, although not prefectly, but I am trying too. Tonight the club the athlete competes for had there annual 400m handicap race (everybody runs 400m) and my athlete went in with a PB in a 400 of 55.6, tonight in the handicap he run 53.6.

He went through the 200 in around or slightly under 26 seconds. The big difference in time was because he had to chase the whole way and had no choice but to go out hard. He tends to be too conservative in the first 150m, so I hope he learnt a valuable lesson tonight.

I do think he is capable of more, as he needs to get his 200 time down.

Thanks KK

DMA,

Well done! 26+28 model it appears? Sometimes a race like you described flips the switch on how they are capable of more than they think.

Are you using the 5-6x200 progressions much?