I’m definitely doing it: rabbiting a World Record attempt for Defar in four days.
The basic idea of a rabbit, for the rookies out there, is to have someone take the lead in a race at a designated pace for a set distance. In this 5k, for example, I’m most likely going to be asked to run 68.0’s for the first 5 laps, and then drop out without tripping the field (which is harder than it sounds). I’m still waiting for the details.
Race directors sometimes feel it will help them sell tickets if they can say someone is making a “World Record Attempt.” Since so few athletes can run those paces, these potential record breakers are choosy about which meet they will do it at. They have great bargaining power as a result, and can say to a race director, “Sure I’ll try for a world record at your meet, but you will pay me $____ appearance fee and you will provide two rabbits for me, one for the first mile and the other for the first 3k. I get $_____ if I set the record as well.”
Rabbiting is a subject worthy of great debate in our sport, and I’m philosophically conflicted about it. It has its moments of use, and you can’t really break a record without one anymore. But mostly I’m a fan of rabbiting for selfish reasons:
1. Its a chance to be a part of a World Record (which is an incredible opportunity).
2. Its a pay day baby, and I could use some flow.
3. It sets me up nicely for my next race.
I’m rarely one to put physical limitations on myself but I can comfortably say I won’t be breaking the world record myself; its of no threat to me to help someone else do it. But you won’t see me rabbit often. The circumstances have to be right. For example, I’d never rabbit an American to an American record in the 5k because it is something I aspire to myself.
I’d really like to hear some opinions on rabbiting here, so feel free to share a comment. Its a debate with lots of valid points.
My current opinion on rabbiting as a whole? Too many races have pace-setters, and its hurting the sport. If week after week the focus is on breaking records, we highlight the huge disparities in the fields, string everyone out from lap 3 onward, and eliminate any chance of the unexpected happening. That’s why Championships are so much more fun to watch…no rabbits.
Knowing that I’m a championship-type racer, you could have guessed my opinion on the subject. Had there been a rabbit at the USA’s at 15:00 5k pace, I wouldn’t have won. But isn’t that the point of a race? To have everyone step on the line with their own bag of tricks and use them the best they can?
Every race strategy has its disadvantage. People with no kick need to lead early, but then they have to cut the wind. That’s just part of the deal. Sorry. And people with good kicks and less endurance can get left behind if someone pushes the pace early. That’s part of the deal. Bummer. Every race is different and you have to make choices every lap that give you the best chance to win. If you don’t run your best race, you don’t win.
That leads me to my other problem with allowing rabbits. They provide an advantage to one particular type of runner, and a disadvantage to all the others. Rhythm runners with great VO2s thrive with rabbits. Imagine if races started putting in “stunters,” rabbits who slow the pace down to ensure a sit and kick race? This would make the races very exciting by ensuring close races, but it would provide a huge advantage to one particular type of runner. Any kind of rabbit provides an advantage for certain competitors, which when you think about it, should probably be illegal.
Another good argument against rabbits is that it has been deemed illegal for a male to rabbit a women’s race. And I’m sure its also illegal for a robot to rabbit a men’s race. So if there is already ethical debate as to how much assistance is too much, to me this raises a red flag for the entire practice.
In Barcelona last week for the European Championships, there were some huge upsets in the middle and long distance races. The Spanish monopolized the 1500’s by slowing the pace down early and kicking hard. Someone else could have taken the lead and pushed it, but they didn’t. Every race was an absolute nail-biter, and the crowds were swimming in endorphins after each finish. I’m sure the fans felt they got their money’s worth.
World records are getting so fast now and some are so ethically questionable that we are doing the sport a huge disservice by putting too much focus on records. So what is a good solution? What do you think we should do? What do the fans want?
Thanks for explaining this a bit more. I’ll have to think about my opinion a bit, but I’m pretty sure I agree with you that the point of a race is “To have everyone step on the line with their own bag of tricks and use them the best they can”. So the whole rabbiting concept means there’s a difference between a “race” and a “world record attempt” (if said attempt includes rabbit specifically for recordbreaking purpose). The latter – while an amazing, awesome display of athletic talent, no question about that – strikes me as sort of a really expensive, superglorified, high-level time trial. Really cool to watch, but the suspense is “will he/she break the record”, which is not as cool as the kind of race you described above, where you watch strategies play out every lap…
hopefully that made sense. mid-afternoon brain slump in progress.
Made perfect sense to me. And thinking about the time trial, I think it would be more interesting to watch someone try for a record all alone…gun to wire. No pacer. No help. I don’t think I’ve ever seen an attempt of that kind. It would be damn hard too, which probably explains why nobody does it.
One fantastic front-run WR has happened in my lifetime – Filbert Bayi broke the WR in the 1500 in the 1974 Commonwealth Games leading from the gun. You can see the last 2′ of the race at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjhC-1W9QTE.
The best argument I’ve ever read against rabbiting is in a Pat Butcher article on the 50th anniversary of Bannister’s sub-4. Butcher argues the race ruined world athletics, and he ends with a glorious tribute to the Bayi 1500 mentioned above. You can read the tirade on rabbiting here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2004/may/04/athletics.comment.
Pat is being a bit of a contrarian, but he makes the very interesting point that the rules used to say that everyone in the race should be there to try and win – that otherwise it was not an “honest competition.”
Not sure to this day what I think of rabbiting, but Pat’s piece did make me see the Bannister mile differently and gave me a whole new respect for Bayi.
Blame Roger Bannister, one of the early pioneers in rabbiting.
Personally, I’m not a fan of rabbits hired by meet directors who then drop out of the race. (No offense intended.) I don’t see as much of a problem for teammates working together to help their best runner win, but you generally don’t see them drop out of the race once they’ve completed their duties up front.
The part that bothers me is dropping, especially when a meet director makes it mandatory. I remember watching the Los Angeles marathon on TV back in the early/mid 90’s (1994?) when Paul Pilkington kept going instead of dropping and won the race outright, much to the dismay of Luca Barzaghi who had no idea he hadn’t won until they put the silver around his neck. He’d thought that Pilkington was required to drop out and the Italians were in an uproar over it at the time.
Rabitting in general doesn’t bother me as much as when track stars avoid each other in meets, thus denying the fans an exciting match-up. This happens a bit more in sprints, but I’m old enough to remember in the early ’80s with the Coe/Ovett rivalry and they would never race against each other unless it was a championship race. They’d each travel around from meet to meet collecting nice paydays and attempting records in rabbited races. But never face each other. Very odd behavior! I think it was the summer of ’81 they traded the mile and 1,500 records back and forth a few times.
Maybe it’s a dumb question, but how come it’s so hard to set a record in a rabbit-less race? Is it a psychological thing? Like, if there’s nobody to chase, it’s just too tough to run a fast enough pace? I’m kinda tempted to think that if someone has the capacity to run a WR time, s/he should be able to just…do that, pacer or no. I’m sure that’s an oversimplification, tho.
Mary,
There’s quite a few reasons, including the psychological, but the biggest reason I can think of is that air is really heavy and especially when running at world record speeds it takes a lot of work to push it out of the way.
At sea level, air weighs about 14.7 pounds per square inch. You’re used to this, so you never really notice it unless you are outside on a windy day, but if you try running through it you have to displace it in order to get your body to move through. By having somebody in front of you to push that air out of the way, you can run in their slipstream and run at the same speed with less effort (all other things being equal.)
Logically, it makes sense that drafting would have a benefit for running if it has a benefit for cycling. But all the hard data I can find about drafting is cycling based. Maybe only cyclists are geeky enough to study this sort of thing. 🙂 Or maybe its just because you can’t fit two runners on one treadmill to control all the variables? Kind of irks me that I can’t find anything.
I’ll see if I can find the study, it’s been 4 or 5 years since I read it and I forget which journal it was in. I’ve been cleaning out the basement and haven’t tossed all my old mags and journals yet. The tests were done on an indoor track turned wind tunnel if I recall correctly.
Lauren – Drafting is all about the speed the object (cyclist or running) is moving and thus having to “push” air molecules out of the way. Cyclists are (obviously) going faster than runners, so the advantage is greater. But in running, sprinters would gain more of an advantage than say a 10k runner. Interestingly, this is why sprinters (and long/triple jumpers) can have better performances at altitude. Thinner air means less air resistance and faster runs/longer jumps!
Thanks for all your updates around Europe!
I also agree that the greatest part of racing is to see who has the most balls and can gut it out. I think rabbiting gives advantage to the one type of racer the pace is setting. I remember being disheartened when I found out Bannister had used a rabbit back in the 4 minute mile days. Records should be broken because you are the fastest person at the finish, not because someone helped you get there. That being said, I don’t think those who are rabbits are bad people, somebody has to do it and we all have to be paid 🙂 Good luck with the rabbiting. I’d loved to get your views on it post-race.
I am also personally conflicted with the idea. Perhaps there should only be specific designated events prescheduled throughout the year where rabbits are permitted to be used for the sole purpose of WR attempts. For the most part I am not a huge fan of the practice. I suppose the best reason for their usage is for the opportunity for some athletes that will never be at that very top level to supplement their income. We all know that track and field, etc. is not the most lucritive sport out there so why help these hard working athletes out?
Where I am most opposed is at the high school level. I don’t think there is ever any valid justification for rabbits in high school races. I believe it simply sets up our youngest athletes for dependence on rabbiting.
However, rabbiting is not going to go away, but I have a proposal – why not have two sets of world records? One with pacers and one without. I don’t foresee my proposal going any where, but hey, gotta throw it out there sometime. 🙂
Hey Lauren-
First, I think it is awesome that you will be rabbiting! I wanna watch just to see you do that part! Second, I am a bit torn on the whole debate. Most of me leans towards feeling that rabbits should not be allowed. Something about the fact that people enter races with no intention of actually racing the distance or completing the race, just doesn’t sit well with me. But I certainly understand the role of a rabbit and there are definitely alot of plus sides to having them. I might feel better if a declared rabbit was required to finish the race regardless of when they drop off the pace, but that would probably just get silly with them jogging or walking the rest of the distance.
However, my counterpoint to the unfair aid to the front runners debate would be that, UNLESS you are a front runner, everyone else HAS rabbits. Meaning that there is always someone faster than you in the race who you could choose to try and pace behind. So, to play devil’s advocate, aren’t the front runners actually at a DISadvantage because they have no one in front of them to pace off, if no rabbit is allowed. Are we not robbing ourselves of seeing their true potential if they are always required to pace themselves and have no one to work off of? Every race I have ever been in, there has always been someone I could have chosen to pace off of and push myself to greater heights. So I think it is only fair that the best in the world have that opportunity as well with the use of rabbits because, as any runner knows, it is MUCH harder to pace and push yourself alone, than when you have someone to work off of or with.
That’s it…. I have convinced myself… RABBITS ROCK! :o)
Chris,
I was particularly struck by this point you made, “Are we not robbing ourselves of seeing [a front runner’s] true potential if they are always required to pace themselves and have no one to work off of?”
That is a great point, and that is the main reason I support keeping some rabbited races around. It IS exciting to witness human potential. If every race was sick and kick, that would get old too. The problem is that with Ethiopians running so much faster than everyone else in the world (I mean a woman’s 5k in 14:11…Really?!) the constant record chasing gets super duper boring. By catering to world record pace, the other 14 athletes in the race are, as you said, robbed of seeing their true potential by having to pace themselves.
I’d be willing to bet that the Stockholm field will have far fewer season and personal bests than the London field. We shall see…
Lauren
I guess when one thinks about a world record it is supposed to be an individual achievement. But I think that with many sports what is forgotten is the competition with other participants brings about the result as well. When Pre talked about a race being a work of art, I think that might best summarize it, since it brings light to the fact that there are many colors/participants. I think with modern rabbiting there is no real spirited compeition. It is a thing of beauty in that it shows what a collective effort, not individual, is capable of producing. But I guess it is antithetical to the idea of competition since it is really just more of a war of attrition. This is actually quite similar to a mathematical concept of optimization globally (sure you don’t want to think about that). I guess as a runner and a fan of running I would like to see what is possible in terms of records when runners just run. It seems like a purer pursuit…and when conditions are ‘right’ and when the runners themselves want to run fast then people will take the race out. If the conditions are not right, then we won’t see a contrived effort and will get to witness an authentic piece of art in motion.
“I guess when one thinks about a world record it is supposed to be an individual achievement.”
“I think with modern rabbiting there is no real spirited competition.”
Those two statements seem fairly contradictory to me. The problem I have with the second one in particular, is that in the events we’re talking about here–the ones currently dominated by Ethiopians–the runners who are breaking records in rabbited races are the same ones winning the more competitive championship races.
I think in the vast majority of rabbited races, there’s more than one runner with a legitimate chance to win, so there IS a competition going on. Not always, but usually. So the spirit of competition is still there. Just as much as in a championship race, in many cases. Just ask Galen Rupp and Chris Solinsky.
Over the past few years, there’s an equal chance of someone beating Bekele in a rabbited 5k record attempt as there is beating him in an Olympic final. Basically none. So I think the lack of competition some people are complaining about here is actually the situation where a few events are dominated by one or two people for several years. That’s what is really taking the competition out of some races, I think. Or even a few top runners avoiding each other in a non-championship season. That, to me, is ten times worse than rabbiting.
For me to buy into the “rabbits are killing track and field” argument, I’d have to be given some specific examples of boring, rabbited world record races.
I haven’t made it through all the comments yet so this may have been covered already. But what about Solinsky’s 10k AR a few months back? There were a bunch of PRs in that field, and not just by the top guys. When the leaders ran as well as they did, it doesn’t seem to hurt those who were dropped early. I might argue that being in a record-setting race, and having the pace raised like that, brings everyone else up a level too.
For a spectator, the big advantage of rabbits is that it keeps the pace from being too slow. A slow pro race where everyone trots around the track at speeds that high schoolers could run with no one willing to take the lead is a boring race.
It really doesn’t make up for the first part of a race being boring if everyone kicks like crazy in the last lap and you get semi-random results based on who happens to be positioned well when everyone finally starts kicking.
I’m with JC on this issue.
Runners who break records STILL have to run the race. Rabbits don’t make records easy, just possible, that’s all. Plus there are certainly lots of occasions where world record attempts are set up with rabbits and there is more than on runner legitimately going for the record. So the outcome of who will win the race is still in doubt. (This is especially true for marathons.)
If I remember correctly, when the US 10,000 record was broken earlier this year, the race was actually set up mostly to Rupp’s specifications, not Solinsky. Without rabbits, that race would not have been near as exciting, nor would anyone have set the record, let alone break 27:00.
Agreed. Now imagine that same race set up with a rabbit for Kenenisa Bekele at 26:17 pace. Still as exciting?
Not likely. But now that you bring up Bekele, I think it’s amazing how much time he spends in the lead at championship races even though he’s got one of the best closing kicks as well. How do you beat someone like that?
I also remember Dave Moorcroft’s 5,000 world record back in ’82, where he ran 13 flat and took nearly six seconds off of Rono’s record. If there were rabbits in that race, he didn’t need them because he was well clear of the field pretty early in the race. He just took off and never looked back. Some might have thought it was boring like a time trial, but to me it was thrilling to see a non-favorite, career journeyman blow the doors off of everyone and take a huge hunk out of a pretty solid record. But then, how often does a race like that happen? Once every thirty years?
Had Stanford been suited for a 26’17 record attempt for Bekele rather than a much slower pace for Rupp, it would have been super exciting for high schoolers watching these guys run. Most high school dudes don’t run under 9’00 for 3.200M. Imagine their awe in seeing a guy run six-consecutive 3.200M splits in 8’24 and then firing off a 60 or so final lap. They’d go home dreaming about that stuff. 🙂
Check — three-straight 3.200M splits — it’s early yet – no Starbucks around 🙂
I don’t think it is bad to have pacers in non-Championship meets. On the contrary, it is very frustrating to see people who are truly capable to run fast but hold out for the kick to win the race. A perfect example is the women 5k at the Beijing Olympics. The pace was so slow. It was painful to watch.
Personally, I like to watch fast running. Pacers or not, it doesn’t matter. There were some spectacular races in the past with no pacers, like Wanjiru’s Beijing victory. Bekele’s 5k victory in Beijing wasn’t shabby either. He led probably at least 9 of the 12.5 haps.
BTW, Lauren, you are one of my favorite US women runners. Good to see you back in racing. I will be looking forward to seeing you pace Defar into a new World Record!
the first time I heard about rabbits used in races was when I read this article: http://www.letsrun.com/2003/escortingpaula.php
it was written by the guy who escorted Paula Radcliffe on her first world record run in Chicago. Very interesting read, if you haven’t done so yet. He wasn’t used as a rabbit but as an escrort; still, he made some interesting points there.
There was a huge debate a while ago in the Tiberias marathon. The guy hired as a rabbit decided to stay and race till the end; he was later blamed for running at a pace that tired the leaders, thus allowing him to win. And I wondered – who made them run at his pace? I mean, don’t all runners run with an intent to win, and don’t they all run at a pace that allows THEM to run comfortably? by running at someone else’s pace, don’t they give up on their ‘comfort zone’?
Again mentioning Paula, she mentions in her book that while running the London marathon, she had 2 Kenyans running at a 2:16 WR pace, but they were running with her, rather then pulling her. still, she ran at her pace, not theirs.
This interesting rabbit debate has thus far been limited to distance events. David Rudisha has required the use of rabbits to run 1’41″5 and any number of 1’42 races; it’s not as simple as it sounds for a guy who runs 45″5 over 400M to split a 48-49 first lap and continue onward to 600m and have to kick on top of that.
Does anyone remember those great 1988 summer matchups between Reynolds, Lewis, Everett and Egbunike over 400M? Everyone loved having Egbunike in a race, because he would ultimately become the unofficial rabbit and run a blazing first 200M to pull along the field.
Two years ago, Yuriy Borzakovskiy was aproached and asked what would happen when he eventually raced Abubaker Kaki at 800M in Beijing. Borzakovskiy: “Kaki will make a good rabbit.” As many know, Borzakovskiy runs in a last-to-first manner, picking pace rather than place to set up his kick down the homestretch. The faster Kaki would run up front without rabbits in the Olympics, the harder Borzakovskiy reasoned that he would have to kick, and the faster he’d run. As it turned out, neither of them made the final.
Does anyone remember what happened in Rome in El Guerrouj’s mile world record chase in 1999? Noah Ngeny of Kenya – a previous pacer in some of El G’s races – stayed the course behind El G and the pacers and wound up setting a PR (3’43″40) under Morceli’s old world record (3’44″39). There are so many angles one can take when discussing pacing. Unethical pace making comes to mind right about now. That same season, 1999, El G’s teammate paced the men’s 1.500M final in an attempt to help string out the championship field and set up El G to run at his best. The teammate did his duties and then faded badly instead of dropping out. El G won in 3’27″65 instead of the expected 3’32ish that many championships seem to produce with fast kicks. American Seneca Lassiter rabbitted the first 800M of the 2002 IAAF World Cup 1.500M at world record pace for friend Bernard Lagat, who was on the Kenyan team. Lagat won in 3’31″20; Lassiter finished in 4’05″82 and earned only one point toward Team USA’s points tally the first day.
I love to see fast times recorded on the clock just as much as I love to see fast splits recorded in championship races. Who hasn’t been amazed when a 1.500M runner runs a 1’46 last 800M in a championship for the victory? It just comes at the expense of 700M of drudgery.
The flip side to this was that Paris World Champs 10km where Bekele and Geb broke away and ran sub-13’00 the second half of the race (12’57 for Bekele) to finish at 26’49 and 26’50 and the women’s 10km in the same championships which went out in 15’06 and closed in 14’57; Sun Yingjie attempted to take the run out of the Ethiopians at 2km, but instead wound up stringing out the field into a great time trial where eight women broke 31’00.
Very interesting and lively discussion. Seems to me that “WR attempts” versus “racing” are just alternative offerings within our sport, and part of a distinguished history. You and others have hit upon the key considerations, namely whether one cares about seeing “history made” in the guise of a new WR, or whether the drama of the head-to-head competition will carry the day. I think there’s plenty of room for both, but trust that head-to-head competition will always carry the day. -Ron
Here’s a hypothetical for Lauren:
Let’s say you’re running in a non-championship European 5,000m race against a solid, respectable field. Maybe not every top 5k runner–since that rarely happens in a non-championship race–but definitely a respectable sampling, including a couple recent medalists even.
Which outcome at this point in your career would you be prouder of: 4th place, top American and a new American record time; or, a win in a more tactical race with a modest PR.
Good question Blake. I’ve posted my answer here: https://asklaurenfleshman.com/questions/2010/08/04/fast-times-or-victories/
MEET-SPONSORED RABBITS HAVE RUINED INTERNATIONAL DISTANCE RUNNING. PERIOD.
There are a limited amount of spaces on a track. Everyone who steps on that track should have the talent to belong there AND should have a vested interest in who wins the race. If a talented teammate wants to give-up his race to help another teammate, that’s just good tactics. However, when the Meet Director dictates the way a race will unfold, that is hopelessly boring.
Sports is at its BEST when the athletes are FIGHTING/CLAWING for the win or the place. Sports is at its most dull when athletes are fight for a statistic. That’s all these records are, just another statistic. The meet sponsored rabbiting problem denigrates distance running, but this focus on times/marks instead of win/placing unfortunately infects all International Track and Field events.
I swear I want to scream when I hear some announcer dejectedly complain about “a pedestrian pace”. Just tell me who benefits and who suffers from the current tactics, just like you would ANY OTHER SPORT!!
If you’re a runner that wants a certain pace, HAVE THE DAM GUTS TO FIGHT FOR IT!!! DEVELOP A SPINE!!
This is one of the primary reasons International Track and Field generates SO LITTLE worldwide interest compared to other sports. It needs to be about the win, not the stat.
Thanks Lauren for hosting a debate that doesn’t get near enough coverage.
Wow, tell us how you really feel!
Obviously, many track fans don’t agree, otherwise meet organizers would be wasting their money on rabbits to make races MORE boring. Through trial and error, meet organizers have learned over the years what fills seats. The fans buy tickets to see big name runners run fast races. If fast races really turned away the serious and potential fans alike, meet organizers wouldn’t bother to pay rabbits. In fact, they couldn’t pay rabbits because they’d be out of business.
If I payed good money to watch Bekele win a 13:28, sit-and-kick race, I’d feel cheated.
I know it’s hard to compare sprints to distance races sometimes, but if stats really didn’t matter, how do you explain the Usain Bolt phenomena? Everyone already knows he’s going to win. But they watch to see how fast he’s going to run.
Lastly, if you think slow, sit-and-kick distance races are exciting, you must not be old enough to remember a man called Miruts Yifter.
Lauren,
Unfortunately rabbiting is often overused in international racing. I don’t believe it should be used in races shorter than 3000m. A rabbit in an 800m race is patently absurd! However, it does have a place in longer races and here’s why.
If Track is to grow and flourish in the current sports and media environment, it must provide an exciting product. Therefore it simply cannot afford to have 13-15 min 5000m races or 27-31 min 10000m races in which ¾ of the race has little interest for anyone but the most diehard fan (and I consider myself to be a diehard fan). I have been to many championship meets (PAC 10, NCAA, Olympic Trials) where a substantial portion of the “fans” left after the sprint events of the day concluded. They left because they think distance events are boring. How often have you see a 5000m or 10000m race covered in its entirety by American TV? They are not shown because the network producers believe they will lose most of their audience. Big international meets, like the Diamond League, use rabbits because fast races engender more excitement, throughout the course of the race, than a purely tactical race.
Yes, I loved the great Olympic (tactical) duels between Gebrselasise and Tergat, but the races I will have the fondest memories of will be the many record breaking 50000m/10000m races I saw at Cobb track at Stanford. Races those were run fast and were often quite competitive.
Tom
Tom, I totally agree that track and field has to provide an exciting product to compete in today’s sports environment. I have no idea how popular T&F is in other cultures and countries, but here in North America it has to be exciting. The big North American sports — football, baseball, basketball, and hockey (OK, I’m Canadian, so I have to mention hockey!) are all exciting and aggressive sports. As I watched the final of the World Cup football, all I could think was, This sort of keepaway game will NEVER make soccer popular in North America.
But I also wonder whether some of the lack of popularity of T&F distance events in North America isn’t simply that North America doesn’t have the serious players it once had in those events. Like you, I consider myself a serious track addict, but I’m more likely to get excited about events or races where Canadians or Americans or Brits (there’s the Canadian again) are players than about events or races where we have no hope. I will also pay attention and try to watch races where Canadian, American, or British runners I like are running. For example, I’ll try to catch Defar’s WR attempt this Friday, but it’s because I want to see Lauren run, not because I’m interested in seeing Defar run 30 to 45 seconds faster than any American or Canadian has ever run.
Perhaps my attitude is too parochial for words, but I think it’s natural for North Americans to cheer for North Americans, for Russians to cheer for Russians, and so on. That’s why I think not having runners who are really in the mix is at least part of why T&F is not a big deal in North America.
Change the term “stunters” to “turtles” and perhaps you’ve invented a new category of rabbit to ensure races finish with an exciting kick. I’m all for it!
Typically the crowd at Hayward Field is far more into a close middle school mile race than a dominant Kenyan win in the Steeple Chase.
I recall, at the Mexico City Olympics in ’68, that Ben Jipcho sort-of rabbited for Kip Keino in the 1500. The tactic worked to take the sting out of Jim Ryun, but cost Jipcho a shot at a medal. I have seen interviews where he’s a bit bitter about it.
In another return to old times, I saw Gerry Lindgren and Billy Mills announce that they would make an attempt on the WR in the 6 mile run at the National AAU Champs in San Diego (around 1965, I think). They traded the lead for 5.75 miles then kicked all out. Mills won by a fraction and both were given the same time. I have never seen a more exciting race and they rabbited off each other.
So much for an old fart’s memories. As with most of the responders, I have mixed feelings about rabbiting in the pro ranks, but was appalled to see it happen in a high school meet in Texas a few years ago. Equally appalling was that I seemed to be one of the few people bothered by it.
Lauren, I have watched you come up through the ranks. You are indeed a talented and gutsy runner. Congratulations on being our 5 km National Champion.
I would like to say that I am taken back by your unkind words about rabbiting for American gals. I, do, understand that they are your competition and well, you may not want to help them out to get an American record or a World record, because well, they are your competition.
To put the thoughts of rabbiting for your country women, your competitiors to a level of prostitution is deemed, to me unkind, unsportsman like behavior.
Would it be too much to ask of you to some more respect for the sport of running and Track and Field and the women who helped pave the way for you.
Hey Patti,
I have this habit of speaking with hyperbole, and since I write the way I speak, I’m not surprised the hyperbole was misunderstood in my post. My comment was merely meant to over-exaggerate my competitiveness. It is crude slang, which is part of who I am and how I communicate, for better or for worse.
Perhaps I could have said I’d rather sell my soul, or walk on hot coals, or something else, none of which I would ever actually do, but all of which would be better choices than referencing prostitution. So sorry about that. You are right and I’ll edit the post.
That being said, I believe there is no “sportsmanship” in rabbiting a fellow American to a record that you yourself have a chance to achieve. The greatest show of respect you can give another runner is to be their honest competitor, giving them nothing more than the opportunity to beat you fair and square with your best effort. Selling yourself to make their glory possible (when you have the ability and desire to achieve the same result) is selflessness bordering on stupidity. Offering your skills to help someone do something beyond your reach or outside the scope of your individual goals is something else entirely.
I’d rabbit an American to a 1500 American record, or a 10k, no problem, if it made sense for me and my season goals. Then its not a sacrifice. In my opinion, there is no place for sacrifice in professional running.
Lauren
I also speak and write with hyperbole. Hyperbole is a common communication technique, one of several forms of metaphor; and metaphors are not designed to be heard or read literally.
When I read the line about selling your body, I just roared with laughter. I never, ever assumed you meant it literally, and I was also impressed with the originality – selling the soul and walking on coals are trite phrases compared to what you wrote.
When I read what other people write or listen to what they say, I need to go beyond the confines of how I communicate and open my mind to how THEY communicate. We aren’t all the same, and we need to make an effort to understand other people’s use of language.
In my view, explaining your use of hyperbole should be enough. If you edit the post, a truly original and memorable metaphor will be lost!
Well put, Louise! Lauren should keep it as she first wrote it and owes nothing to anyone. Her candor and insight is why we read this blog!
While we’re on the subject of rabbiting, I’ve noticed a dramatic increase in the practice of “pacing” in marathoning. One example is pace groups organized by the race directors to help runners qualify for Boston, or maybe just set a new PR. But I also see lots of friends and training partners helping each other out the same way.
For example, say I asked a training partner, “Hey, would you mind pacing me from mile 19 to 25 next month in the XX Marathon to help me qualify?” I see this a lot, and it’s happening more and more. I personally have no problem with it at all. I’ve never asked anyone to help pace me, nor have I been asked to help anyone–but I’d sure be flattered If I was asked, and would do it in a heartbeat as long as it didn’t involve a huge training interruption.
I guess my point here is that I see no difference between this, and elite athletes using rabbits to help them run a world record. It’s all the same thing in my mind.
Pacers or not, boring or not, isn’t the point of a race simply to see who can run the prescribed distance in the shortest period of time? I get sick of seeing runners so capable of running near world record times, but instead ‘sandbag’ the race and keep the pace slow just to outkick everyone the last 200 meters. If I wanted to watch a 200m race, I would. But when I am watching a 1500, 5k, or 10k, the entire distance is the race. Watching a group of outstanding athletes jog for the first 20 laps is extremely boring and anticlimactic, I don’t care how close the finish is. Knowing that they could have gone a full minute or two faster but chose not to simply tells me that I am not watching ‘the best’ competition, but some shadow of the best. So if a pacer helps to keep the pace “honest”, than I’m all for it. But even without paid rabbits, the runners should friggin’ run hard the whole way and go for their fastest time possible for the entire distance. I am a mid-d and distance fan because that’s what I enjoy doing and that’s what I enjoy watching. But slow paces and kicks to the finish turn a distance run into a friendly jog with a 200m sprint to the end. That is boring.
Lauren, apology accepted.
I, too, have rabbitted. Rabbitting is on a case by case basis. Fitness level and training and racing schedule and of course, the distance has a great of determining whether or not it could /would be done.
Good luck with your race (racing). hope you click off 68’s.
Now there is a story about rabbitting. The Tom Byers story.
whose moment of fame happened at the Bislett Stadium in Oslo on 26 June 1981, when he defeated a field that included Steve Ovett, Steve Cram and John Walker.
The American’s unlikely triumph occurred after he had been allowed to open up a 70m lead by the start of the final lap. Ovett, the reigning Olympic 800m champion, gave chase, but finished half a second behind the American in what was only his second defeat over the metric mile in four years.
Ovett and the others protested they had been confused by an official who had erroneously supplied them with Byers’ split times instead of their own during the early part of the race.
Nearly a decade later, I tracked Byers down – he was working as a corporate risk manager in Ohio – and asked him to recall the evening when he became the world’s most famous runaway rabbit.
“At the bell, I looked over my right shoulder and they weren’t there,” Byers said. “It was eerie. Going down the back straight I heard the fans pounding on the walls and I thought to myself: ‘You can win.’ It was a total fluke. But you would have thought someone in that pack would have been able to tell what pace they were really running at.”
The collective mental slackness exhibited on that night in Norway was sufficient to make Byers’ name. “For one day I was a celebrity,” he recalled.
My hubby, Danny Dillon was there in the stands. There is more to the story of how Tom got to be the rabbit. I’ll let Danny fill in later when he gets home from work.
Of how, Tom had to run a sub 4 minute mile alone to show that he was “in shape”
Of how it was the first time his dad had ever seen Tom run a 4 minute mile and he did the day he had to “qualify” to be a rabbit. There were only four, maybe five people present at the track whe he did “qualify”..His dad, Geoff Holister, Tom’s coach and I think the race director. Who had to see the fitness level of Byers with his own eyes before he’d agree to let Tom rabbit…because who was Tom Byers?
The story would make a wonderful movie.
I look forward to watching the race on television.
Lauren I got the above reply from an online newspaper.
Hubby does tell enriching details..though it was the best I could do for now.
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/general/athletics-how-byers-became-the-worlds-most-famous-runaway-rabbit-582106.html
I definitely agree with your final analysis, Lauren. I feel that records are far overrated and that rabbiting is unethical.
In any truly popular sport, competition is the prime focus and records are secondary, at best, and are merely the outcome of what happens during competition. To the vast majority of people, 4:10 pace or 4:50 pace means little at all — yet they can understand the basic, primal concept of the person to get to the finish first wins. Rare is the rabbited race that is actually truly competitive.
To be able to lay legitimate claim to a performance as being truly one’s own, whether that is defined by place or by time or both, run it without the help of any aid. Just you, your fitness, your preparation, and your wiles up against everyone else’s.
Lauren,
A really well written piece. I understand your dilemma. As a coach it can be a double edged sword as well. I coached a high schooler a few years back (the only one I’ve ever coached) and she ended up breaking a national distance record on the track. There were no rabbits. It is exciting when high schoolers run fast becasue they RACE. German didn’t have rabbits when he set his records. That being said, I’ve rabbitted myself and it’s fun. When you do your job (which is a lot harder than it sounds) and the top runners hit their target it’s something to really be proud of. Funny thing about rabbitts in womens races is that women are generally less “chicken” then men and go for it more often than not. I use to work with a male runner, Brian Abshire, who had that same mentality: go after it and let them come get me. Women do that all the time. However, as you said, the records have now gotten so fast that a rabbit is necessary to really have a chance at lowering it. Also, there are some records (womens 1500) where it really needs to be broken by a clean runner. Anyway, best of luck to you. I met you at Sacramento State once when you ran there right after college. Hope you run great the next few years.
Lauren,
I admire your ability to see both valid sides of an issue, and to express your ambiguity while also telling us (without it coming across as needing to defend yourself) your motives for going ahead and rabbiting a race.
I am a decent runner, not great–the type that gets to the Olympic Marathon Trials and finishes 86th. I and those of my ability pretty much have the same strategy in every race that we do (as far as I have gleaned from chatting to other runners), and that is to run as fast as we possibly can in all of our race efforts. This is, as it turns out, also the best way for us to place as high as we can in the standings. It may be due to my naivete, stemming from my lack of real ability, that leads to me think that races in which everyone is trying his/her best to run as fast as he/she are the most exciting, perhaps even the most noble. I pretty much have the attitude, “Let the best (wo)man win!” One of your points, in fact, was that if races were all rabbited, then the person with the highest VO2 would always win. That seems to me like saying that the fittest person will always win. Isn’t that the point? To get as fit as you can and then race others who have gotten as fit as they can? The most disappointing race that I have ever personally had the misfortune of sitting through was the final of the men’s 1500 at this year’s US Championships in Des Moines. I may be wrong, but you’ll get my point, that the men went through the 800 about as fast as the junior women went through the 800 of their 1500. It could not be the case that more than 2-3 of those guys (the fastest 400m runners among them) could have possibly thought that they could win that way. What were the others runners doing–conceding defeat? The first 800 must have caused these guys absolutely no physiological distress, so why even run it?
We teach our young kids in sport that they are winners as long as they do their very best. And then we say it’s more “exciting” to watch elite runners toying with one another and objectively running nowhere near their “best,” as long as you define “best” in the way that most people would: running as fast as you are currently able. Having said this, however, I, too, understand the arguments of the other side. I also concede that perhaps I have no idea what I’m talking about, given that I have never had the ability to race “tactically” and instead am forced to just give it my best effort.
Thanks for opening up a great, intellectual argument. Much better than the haters on letsrun can do!
Erin
Rabbitting is not limited to “World” or “National” caliber races.
When I had my Homeschool Harriers Club, I was asked at a race by a once National/World level coach if one of my runners could/would “rabbit” his high school boy in the race my boys were racing. I was bewildered (as I thought it was only at high levels rabbit were used)…but nevertheless…asked the boys..if that’s what they wanted to do. “Absolutely not” they both responded…though both boys did get beat by a long shot..it was a good learning lessson…you never know what your going to do unless opportunity shows itself.
I watched a young man named Trevor Dunbar do what the post from Aug.2 @ 3:49 P.M. suggested “…watch someone try for a record all alone….gun to wire…”. Young Mr. Dunbar helped shovel the snow and ice from the track (in Alaska) and then went out and ran something like a 4:02 mile. There was not much drama as there was only one other young man on the track, but that clip had my attention from gun to wire. Lauren I love to read your always interesting take on running and racing.
Lauren,
I appreciate your view on the ethics and competition of allowing rabbits and agree with you. I dont approve of rabbits either. However, in reality, you will not be able to prevent the manipulation of races by team members. I wish American runners would run/compete more like a team, especially in long distance races like marathons; i.e. helping one another by drafting, pacing, etc. I think at times we compete too independently.
Hey Bill,
You bring up a great point. I love to see American athletes, (or athletes from multiple countries even,) working together to achieve a fast time. At Stanford we did that all the time, especially in cross country, but it happened in track as well. Most memorable was when Stanford went 1,2,3,4 at Pac 10’s in the men’s and women’s 1500m races in the same year (2001?) by implementing team strategies and taking turns pulling the pace. If I remember correctly, all four of us women qualified for NCAA’s in that race.
At the pro level I don’t see it as much, and you are right…its a shame. I’ve shared leads with Kara Goucher in a 5k, Shayne Culpepper in the 3k, but the rest of the time its been with international athletes. Usually I only see Americans share the work in smaller meets when the focus is on time. I’ll have to think about why that is.
Try telling Henry Rono that rabbits are necessary for a WR (4 in 81 days–no rabbits, hardly any competition).
LOL! Interesting debate. I was just thinking of the first time someone explained the job of a rabbit to me. My reply was, “But, in high school track, if someone not competing in the race runs along beside you (on the track, on the infield) , it’s called pacing, and that’s illegal, and you get disqualified….. Why is it legal in the pros?” I didn’t receive an adequate answer for my rather simple logic, but today, I understand the role much better. : )
There is a brief discussion on drafting in “Essesntials of Exercise Physiology” by W.D. McArdle et al. (2006), p 282.
It says drafting 1 m behind a runner at 13.4 mph (4:29/mile pace) “can reduce total energy expenditure by 7%.”
I was (almost) as fast Lauren 20 or 25 years ago, now much slower, and have run races/time trials with and with out a “rabbit.” I think you can gain about 1 to 1.5 sec/lap if you are drafting.
Even though we’ve had rabbits for decades, track running at the elite level has changed, and it’s often a sit and kick tactical affair (championship style) or a fast paced rabbit chase, where one or more runners set record level paces for 1/2 to 3/4 of the distance. Not as many races, just for racing’s sake, that are both fast and tactical.
What a plearuse to find someone who thinks through the issues
So, I’m a high school women’s CC/distance coach, master’s runner and an old-school guy; I don’t necessarily subscribe to or like the concept of rabbits in general. Nevertheless, they can have their place. Lauren, use this opportunity to your advantage. If running 68s puts you in good position at 5 laps, AND your contract doesn’t require you to drop out, AND you’re feeling good, then hang with the field and see if you can ink an AR. I am not into details of pro athlete rabbiting agreements, so this may not be possible, and I”m sure you already have this floating in the back of your mind if it’s a possibility. Sometimes funny things happen when you don’t think you’re in shape and when the pressure of “winning” is off, so take advantage of the moment and follow your gut instincts if opportunity presents itself. I’ve followed your running resume, along with my girl’s team, who look to you and other’s like you as an inspiration.
Good idea, Hunter!
from Universal Sports, May 15, 2010:
“Although it’s rare, pace-setters have wound up winning races they were hired to help someone else win.
“Perhaps the most famous incident on the track happened in 1981, when American Tom Byers was hired to rabbit a mile race in Oslo that featured Steve Ovett, Steve Cram and John Walker. Byers pulled away with no one giving chase, and by the final lap had opened a 70-meter lead. Ovett, the reigning Olympic 800m champion, tried to close the gap but wound up finishing a full second behind.”
http://www.universalsports.com/blogs/blog=blockheadblog/postid=472875.html
This is a great piece right here. It brings an interesting topic up. Can anyone but a “rhythm runner” ever set a world record. As you stated a rabbit really helps set it up well for those rhythm runners, but leaves the sprinters out to dry. Does a kicker really even stand a chance in a race set up for a world or national record, or will it now and forever be that the runners with the records are the ones who can get into that groove?
A perfect example might be Hicham El Guerrouj. Everyone always said that he could never win a championship even though he had the mile/1500 world record because he was a rhythm runner but not a kicker. He did end up getting his fair share of championships of course, but who is to be held in higher esteem, the championship winning kicker, or the world record holding rhythm runner?
I tend to avoid an “either/or” stance, since I think there are definite downsides to either extreme. On the one hand, too many rabbited races can make the sport less interesting, and there are some cases where rabbits lead and no one goes with them, which is obviously pointless. On the other hand, tactical races can be VERY boring. I think excellent examples of how good and bad tactical races can be are the 5Ks at USAs this year. The women’s 5K was amazing to watch even though it went out slowly; there were big moves and really gutsy competition (especially from Lauren!). But the men’s 5K was a display of just how dull tactical racing can be. There were hardly any moves in the race, and no one put forth a challenge; basically the whole field was there with 200 meters to go, and Lagat just blew them out of the water. No disrespect to him; he’s an amazing competitor, and he used the strategy that gave him the best shot of winning (which was almost guaranteed either way). But if every race were like that, I think most fans would be bored out of their minds. Especially for non-championship races where less is on the line, fans generally take more interest in faster times (especially when we can’t find anywhere to watch the meets…), and I think athletes generally want to see what they can do. As Eric mentioned, Rudisha is a great example; he’s just head-and-shoulders above everyone else in the world right now, except for Kaki. I think he has every right to see just how fast he can really run in meets (instead of pushing it from the front in every race, leading wire-to-wire, and winning in 1:43.2).
If I’m at a meet, I’ll probably enjoy the race either way. But I think that, in order for me to be interested, all of the competitors in the race need to do the best that they can. That doesn’t mean running fast splits; it just means going out there and really fighting for some part of the race. I think Keninisa Bekele is one of the best and most interesting competitors in the world in that sense; he could win most of his races by holding the field back and kicking in 26 for the last 200, but most of the time, he doesn’t. He pushes it hard for the last mile or so and dares people to come with him, and really makes the race challenging and interesting.
tl;dr: Sometimes rabbits are good, because fast times are interesting for fans and it’s cool to get to see how differently people race when the pace is faster, but rabbits shouldn’t be used too often, because a good tactical and competitive race where everyone uses their own strategies is the best and most pure form of competition.
I think pace setters are incredibly great for the sport. I think it’s ridiculous that not only are there no pace setters in the New York and Boston Marathons in the World Marathon Major series, but the race directors defend it. Because of this, a typical winning time in those marathons is 2:09, and it’s considered a shock if a 2:05 is run on them. On the other hand, anything over 2:05 is considered a slow time if it were run in London, Chicago, or Berlin. The latter are faster and definitely more “exciting.”
Also, so what if a race is run solo? Maybe you need to watch more videos of Bekele, Geb, or Komen in their world records. Daniel Komen in his 5000m and 3000m world records has impecable running form. His stride is beautiful, amazing, and long. If you watch the video to his 3000m world record, the announcers describe his form as looking like a sprinter. Any other race without pacers almost always tends to turn into professionals jogging. You can tell this not only by the clock, but also how their form looks: barely lifting their legs at all. It is not exciting to see professionals jog. It IS exciting to see professionals run fast.
Finally, the need to win unfortunatly takes over the desire to run fast. Bekele only did the 5000m in the Berlin World Championships because Mesert Defar didn’t win the gold medal for Ethiopia, and he wanted to make up for that. Otherwise, he was going to have pacers at the Switzerland Golden League meet pace him through 3000m in 7:30 for a 5000m record attempt. Instead, he was exhausted after running a 10000m final and two 5000m races, all due to the need to “win.” “Winning” unfortunatly took away from a chance to break the incredible 12:37 mark, which definitely would have been more “exciting” than simply outkicking Lagat on the home stretch.
I think a lot of the debate is different if we’re talking about men’s racing vs. women’s racing. Lauren, you mention one reason to have less rabbited races is to change it up and make the front runners and kickers each have to use their own tactics, makes races and results more unpredictable, etc. In men’s racing this MIGHT be effective…after all, even in the rabbited events there is a fair amount of inconsistency (one need only look at Eliud Kipchoge’s season this year) and also there are usually anywhere between 4-8 guys still in the race, even in rabbited races like diamond league meets. So, yes, presumably with that many people still in the race, plus a few others in a more tactical event, the results could be MUCH different…
However, I don’t think the effect could be as great in womens’ racing. I’m still thinking primarily 5k here, but consider the types of closing laps women like Dibaba and Defar run at the end of championship races, or even at the end of fast, paced affairs. Throw in Linet Masai (especially for the 10k) and Vivian Cheruyiot for good measure…honestly, womens racing, as you mentioned in your anti-rabbit argument, is usually more spread out. Removing a rabbit would partially tighten the races back up, but lets face it…in what would be a “slow” race for runners of their caliber (lets say 15:30-15:45), it is still at least a reasonably quick clip even for a vast amount of national/international class athletes. The races might get a LITTLE more unpredictable, but off that pace, I still don’t think anyone else would win. Sure, a much larger portion of women might be able to stay in the pack during these races, but then Dibaba, Defar, or Cheruyiot is going to drop a 55 on the last lap, and–frankly–everyone else is going to get blown to pieces.
That’s the thing…it depends on the depth of the races. In races that get as spread out as most womens 5ks, a slower race wont make much difference in result unless they are waiting until the last 200m. Any move earlier than that and all the people that can’t keep up in the 14:40 or faster type events are STILL going to get shelled, just because the ability level is different.
Think about this comparison…I can run about a 4:30 for the mile. Let’s say I run against a marathoner who has much less legspeed than I do over 400m, but is so strong he has a PR of 4:18 for the mile. Even if that guy runs 4:35 pace–well within my limits–if he moves anytime before the last 100m, he’s still going to shred me. 4:35 maybe a little slower than my all-out effort, but far greater strength is going to provide the aerobic athlete a better kick at the end of even a moderately paced effort, because they are running at a relatively easier physiological level for themselves.
Same thing with a 14:11 5k runner vs. a 15:00 5k runner. If they run a 15:10, which is pretty dang slow for someone with a 14:11 PR, the slower athlete may be able to keep up for most of the race, but they will be close enough to a redlining type of effort, that as soon as the faster runner decides to make a decisive move, the race is almost assuredly over, even if the 15:00 runner has much better 400m speed.
So, I don’t think eliminating rabbits would make much of a difference in the predictability of the international womens results in events like the 5k. In shorter events like the 1500, I think the difference could be much larger (I don’t see Gelete Burka outkicking Anna Willard-Pierce in a 4:12 1500, personally), and in men’s 5ks it might change the results a LITTLE bit, just because the fields are tighter as far as personal bests go…
My problem with rabbits is a sub-set of the greater problem with International Track and Field. IT AIN”T GOOD!!
The Diamond League will pay-out just under $7 million for ALL OF ITS athletes. Hell, a single no-name back-up centerfielder in Major League Baseball will make that in a year. Track isn’t pulling in revenue because it doesn’t generate mass fan interest, and hasn’t for 25 years. The problem is related to the over-emphasis in ALL events on Times/Marks.
All normal, i.e. popular sports, put the emphasis on winning, which generates excitement. For all of you who think that meet promoters are revving up attendance by trying to make records, all you are attracting are TRACK NERDS (look, I’m one too). Which, in a short-term focused strategy, you may be just trying to get who you can get. Fine. But just realize, that hurts general fan interest, which is why I can never find a live race on network T.V. ARGG!!
Meet/League Promoters should ONLY give prize money according to competition placing and for Appearance Fees (big names do attract interest), as well as discriminate between popular and un-popular events. Qualification for championships should be based on placing performance on the circuit and/or qualification meets.
Then watch the athletes, and their TEAMs, duke it out. That is interesting. And it’s not because sit-and-kick races are the most exciting. A solo race is exciting when a racer IS TAKING A RISK. He wants him or his teammate to win, and he MUST go out hard to make it happen. It’s called guts, and fans like to watch that.
Rabbiting should not be allowed because it only benefits one type of runner, the ones with great endurance and rhythm, and the ones with less endurance and a fast kick get nothing.
Every person must come down to the track with their own bag of trick, no outside help, like the old times, ask Roger Bannister or Emil Zatopek.
Best
Roger Bannister not only had 2 rabbits but his time trial where he broke 4 minutes didn’t include any other competitors…just a couple guys to help him break that 4 minute barrier. Chris Brasher led the way through a 1:58.2 after 2 laps, and then Chris Chataway took the lead for 3:00.5 after 3 laps. Bannister didn’t take the lead until about 300 yards to go in the race.
So…if we were to have asked him, I’m sure he would have said that rabbits were fine. 🙂
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I just won a Halloween 5K for overall women because my dad was the rabbit. New PR is 20:29 and I’m set on breaking 20 before 2012! RABBITING ROCKS! DO IT!
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