The more we run the 3200, and the more popular this event becomes, the more we learn that this is an event that requires some planning and forethought to happen well. Photo by Alan Versaw.
We're learning a few things about the 3200 as we go.
Some things, we're learning the hard way. Some things we're learning the easy way. But, we're learning nevertheless.
One thing that should be evident by now is that you get a lot better results in the 3200 when you put together a solid field and run the event under favorable conditions. Those conditions could be the cool of morning or under the lights. Probably more so than any other standard high school track and field event, great performances in the 3200 tend to happen within a context.
If you're looking for anecdotal evidence of that claim, look no further than the current Colorado 3200 meter rankings. For the boys 12 of the current top 14 times come from either Broomfield (under the lights on Friday night) or Longmont (favorable morning conditions on Saturday). Both meets made it a point to assemble solid 3200 fields, reaching beyond the range of complete teams attending the meet. While the girls rankings for the 3200 are a little less dramatically influenced by the Broomfield and Longmont meets, those two meets are still disproportionately represented among the top times for the event.
Not many people are qualifying for state by running the 3200 at 4 PM on a Saturday afternoon.
Another, and very different, observation about 3200s is also worth making while the subject is at hand.
That is, the 3200 is a nightmare for the poor soul tasked with reading the FinishLynx images. As a person who reads more track-related e-mail than anyone else in the state (that's a self-identified distinction, but I'm pretty sure I'm right about that one), I can tell you it is more the exception than the rule that a meet gets all the 3200 times and places correct.
If I wanted to play the game, I could identify for you not a few athletes with current 3200 times listed that are significant outliers within their overall body of results. The easiest explanation, by far, is that they got lapped in a 3200 and were credited with a seven-lap time instead of an eight-lap time for one meet or another.
That's not to criticize the person reading the FinishLynx images in each case. My hunch is that job is the toughest job there is in scoring a meet.
But, we could use some creative thinking on this issue. It's not going away any time soon under the current system.
A couple of years ago, there was some discussion on this site about pulling lapped 3200 runners off the track. That procedure would definitely resolve a lot issues with regard to properly reading FinishLynx images for the 3200, but it's also fair to say not many coaches are particularly warm to the idea. Pulling high school athletes off the track isn't something any of us would enjoy doing.
Meets held at Longmont High School have gone to running two simultaneous 3200s, one in lanes 1-4 and another in lanes 5-8. A stagger is calculated so that both groups run the same distance. The intent here isn't so much to uncloud the FinishLynx problem (though it does reap some benefits there) as it is to keep a clear running lane for the top 3200 runners so they don't spend their last three laps weaving through lapped runners.
I can attest, however, that the Longmont solution, as good as it is, is not a complete solution. Yesterday, I had a 3200 runner step off the track with one lap left to complete. Both he and the officials had lost count--perfectly understandable in the afternoon heat and mass of competitors (something like 37 between the two groups). I let the scorer know, and we removed the runner from the results--that's all you can do in a case like that.
Honestly, we need a better solution or we will sooner or later end up with an individual qualified for state with a seven-lap time. Perhaps sooner. Perhaps multiple individuals.
I'll toss an idea out into the pool of conversation. It does involve running 3+ heats of the 3200 for any rankings meet, however. You run one "qualifying" heat each of boys and girls 3200s. The timing system is on for these events. And, yes, lapped runners are removed from the track. For boys, that means finishing within about 75 seconds of the winner if you want a time. For girls, that would be closer to finishing within 90 seconds of the winner. Don't like that condition for finishing? Well, read on...
Then, run a separate heat of the 3200 for athletes with the timing system shut off, and with coaches responsible to record times for their own athletes. CHSAA rules prohibit a simultaneous start for boys and girls, but it would be fairly simple to start the girls one minute after the boys--or employ the Longmont solution and run two groups in different lanes.
Everyone gets a hand time. Or at least they get a time if their coach is properly operating a stopwatch.
For small invitationals, perhaps ones with 10 or fewer competitors in the 3200, just run one heat each of boys and girls and work real hard to make sure the finish images are read correctly.
The benefit of running "qualifying" heats extends beyond simply not recording any seven-lap times. It also means the person reading the images doesn't have to make any judgments about lapped runners and order of finish. Therefore, we sharply reduce the incidence of runners misidentified in the results as well.
If this is an idea worth discussing, find the forum and tell us what you think!