Today I had the pleasure of participating in an 800 meter race in the dead of night around a snow-covered block in Old Brooklyn. It was an age-graded competition, with the elder competitor receiving a 36-second head-start based on the ratio of world records between my age group and his own. In the end, I was able to win by a margin of 9 seconds as he completed his first ever 800-meter race at the age of 59.
Analysis #1: The Event
The 800 is a tough event. The cold air was tearing at our lungs, and it was a very difficult and invigorating experience. It's fast enough that you can't settle in and get comfortable, but long enough that it's not over fast.
Analysis #2: The Age-Adjustment
Age-grading works! We ended up with a pretty close race based on the system I used, and every subsequent race will allow me to further dial in the adjustment factor to make things as reasonable as possible in terms of making it a fair fight. I was not confident in the victory until about 15 seconds before the finish.
Analysis #3: The Course
This was a tough course. I am eager to take on the elder competitor again, but on a standard 400-meter track. Hopefully, over time, we will be able to experiment with hills, grass, track, light, dark, etc. It will also be interesting to see how much or how little the times vary based on the surface.
Thanks for the analysis, #JAANPIRN!
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