Of course, 4 good freshman 400m specialists would have beaten Coghlan - all you have to do is add up their split times to tell you that they would even beat the current mile world record, assuming they could all run 52-54 secs. The 400m distance is mostly run in the anaerobic (sprint) zone, save the last 150m, whereas a miler will run almost 100% aerobically, so such an experiment would prove very little. What was done here was a very good experiment - taking four high school mile specialists, who could all do sub 5min miles (great standard) and getting them to each run a quarter-mile against Coghlan. If nothing else, it shows just how good an elite miler actually is, and how remarkable a feat a sub 4min mile is. Its also a great illustration, early on, to the high schoolers of what's required to approach the elite miler standard. There are a few good lessons here for endurance runners of all standards, and of course what FUN it was to watch and so nice of Coghlan to participate.
@@VictorOctavian You are spot on. A mile run aerobically would be a losing miler. Your man says the 400 is all sprint BUT the last 150..(then what?) He misses point of the race...one of the kids wrote a letter for the race all in fun...the surprise was Eamonn needed a 4:03
Finally a youtube commentator who knows what the heck he is talking about! I think I am going to have cardiac arrest. Your analysis is pretty sound and you get that using four sprinters would be pointless in such an experiment.
@@VictorOctavian Thanks OA. (I only just checked back here after getting a notification for a recent reply.) Of course you are right about an elite miler's mile pace being run at 75-80% anaerobic, I was talking nonsense there. Regarding 400m, I'll suffice to say - 'mostly run anaerobically, with an element of aerobic'. I'll leave it to others with more expert knowledge to explain it further ! Still, this race was a good experiment - getting 4 x high school milers to run their best flat 400m against an elite miler running 4 x 400m. As opposed to doing this same race with 4 high school 400m specialists - this would not really prove anything, as 400m specialists are sprinters and milers are endurance runners thanks again.
This was a fun video to watch. The point? Obviously made clear in the intro....the anchor man was the high school runner who ASKED for this race. I am impressed w a "casual" 4:03!!. I was in Ireland once (as i am irish born US raised) and had a race where the best runner was younger n much slower but his parents were watching....so I just ran the race quietly n just passed him by an inch at the end. My Irish cousin caught on but kids family was delighted....hence that was my main point in the race...sure Eamon caught on as well
That was cool for the high school kids to get to run against a pro runner. However, I question what the point of this race was, as these kids are not fast 400 meter runners. A good squad of boy and girl freshman runners could have runner faster than the kids in this race.
Very interesting video! I'm guessing this was 1987, matching the video that preceded the actual race. Coghlan would have been at the tail end of his very long career by this time. Still a terrific run by him. I agree with the other comments here. I recall as an 18 year old, I clocked a PB 400m of 56.5 but could not get anywhere near sub 5 minutes for the mile so the four school kids who were all very good milers really should have been better at 400m so they were probably chosen to make this the close race that it was. Only the girl on the third leg raised her game significantly. But also bear in mind that Coghlan has run the mile 13 or 14 seconds faster than this plus this was 1600m not a mile which is 1609.3m so for him, this was just a jog.
Of course, 4 good freshman 400m specialists would have beaten Coghlan - all you have to do is add up their split times to tell you that they would even beat the current mile world record, assuming they could all run 52-54 secs. The 400m distance is mostly run in the anaerobic (sprint) zone, save the last 150m, whereas a miler will run almost 100% aerobically, so such an experiment would prove very little.
What was done here was a very good experiment - taking four high school mile specialists, who could all do sub 5min miles (great standard) and getting them to each run a quarter-mile against Coghlan. If nothing else, it shows just how good an elite miler actually is, and how remarkable a feat a sub 4min mile is. Its also a great illustration, early on, to the high schoolers of what's required to approach the elite miler standard.
There are a few good lessons here for endurance runners of all standards, and of course what FUN it was to watch and so nice of Coghlan to participate.
@@VictorOctavian You are spot on. A mile run aerobically would be a losing miler.
Your man says the 400 is all sprint BUT the last 150..(then what?)
He misses point of the race...one of the kids wrote a letter for the race all in fun...the surprise was Eamonn needed a 4:03
Finally a youtube commentator who knows what the heck he is talking about! I think I am going to have cardiac arrest. Your analysis is pretty sound and you get that using four sprinters would be pointless in such an experiment.
@@VictorOctavian You do not know your terms. Go study.
@@VictorOctavian Thanks OA. (I only just checked back here after getting a notification for a recent reply.)
Of course you are right about an elite miler's mile pace being run at 75-80% anaerobic, I was talking nonsense there.
Regarding 400m, I'll suffice to say - 'mostly run anaerobically, with an element of aerobic'. I'll leave it to others with more expert knowledge to explain it further !
Still, this race was a good experiment - getting 4 x high school milers to run their best flat 400m against an elite miler running 4 x 400m.
As opposed to doing this same race with 4 high school 400m specialists - this would not really prove anything, as 400m specialists are sprinters and milers are endurance runners
thanks again.
Hi Eamon 👋
Eamonn was being very kind. A gentleman.
My second time bumping into this video! That track was extremely ropey! And Eamonn was a very naughty boy, fouling the inside lane!
Yes hw did!...foot inside but you know he was blinded by the heat!
Glad I wasn't the only one to notice that. Cheeky bugger that he was.
This was a fun video to watch. The point? Obviously made clear in the intro....the anchor man was the high school runner who ASKED for this race.
I am impressed w a "casual" 4:03!!.
I was in Ireland once (as i am irish born US raised) and had a race where the best runner was younger n much slower but his parents were watching....so I just ran the race quietly n just passed him by an inch at the end. My Irish cousin caught on but kids family was delighted....hence that was my main point in the race...sure Eamon caught on as well
Lake Braddock runners - James Volpe, Wendy Neely, Susan Volpe, Phil Blair
That was cool for the high school kids to get to run against a pro runner. However, I question what the point of this race was, as these kids are not fast 400 meter runners. A good squad of boy and girl freshman runners could have runner faster than the kids in this race.
Did you not watch the video
..the one boy wrote a request and picked the team.
It was still 4:03!
Little bit of corner cutting - an Irish mile 😸
Great fun...need more creative marketing in athletics
World class is so, so, rare!
4:36 at 15 is blazing. What happened to that kid?
Great sport Eamonn
The heat is not so great thing for we who are born in the North Atlantic
cool!
go, Phil!
Very interesting video! I'm guessing this was 1987, matching the video that preceded the actual race. Coghlan would have been at the tail end of his very long career by this time. Still a terrific run by him.
I agree with the other comments here. I recall as an 18 year old, I clocked a PB 400m of 56.5 but could not get anywhere near sub 5 minutes for the mile so the four school kids who were all very good milers really should have been better at 400m so they were probably chosen to make this the close race that it was. Only the girl on the third leg raised her game significantly.
But also bear in mind that Coghlan has run the mile 13 or 14 seconds faster than this plus this was 1600m not a mile which is 1609.3m so for him, this was just a jog.
You must have missed the start of the video discussing the incredible heat!
Up the Irish
Very fun video. So take that you young whippersnappers!!! Next time you want to make fun of an "old" person. Ha ha ha.......
The big guy at the end slowest s***