The Major Players of Australian Men's 800m Running

by Cindy King

 

Ok, let’s get the issue over with at the beginning. Whenever someone talks about men’s 800m racing in Australia, it is often pointed out that the Australian record is now 41 years old. Good on Ralph Doubell for running 1:44.40 in 1968, but let’s focus on the present runners and what their goals and ambitions are.

 

I had the pleasure of catching up with the top-ranked 800m runners for 2009 on their plans for 2010. Perhaps the biggest surprise I found out is that one of our top competitors, Jeff Riseley, has no plans to contest the 800m in the Commonwealth Games, and US-based standout Ryan Foster is only a ‘maybe’ on whether or not he will contest the trial.

 

The runners vary in their approaches to training. For example, ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­2008 800m Olympian Lachlan Renshaw did no cross country or road races in 2009, whereas Tasmanian standout (and Australian indoor 800m record holder) Ryan Foster considers cross country racing one of the ‘most important’ aspects of his race preparation. Both Renshaw and Nick Bromley have increased their mileage, but for Renshaw this means upping the mileage to 80 km/week, whereas Bromely is peaking out at 120-130 km/week.

 

Here is what Nick Bromley, Ryan Foster, Jeff Riseley, Lachan Renshaw and Ryan Gregson are thinking about the upcoming season.

Lachlan Renshaw represented Australia in the 800m at the 2008 Olympics and was the top-ranked Aussie for 800m in 2009. On February 20^th, he ran 1:15.14 for 600m,which is believed to be the fastest ever Australian time over the rarely-raced distance.

 

 

LR:  I already have a Commonwealth Games “A” qualifier, so this has taken the pressure off me for this domestic season. I can relax, train hard, and do my own thing. I am excited that Kenyan David Rudisha will be racing in the Melbourne Grand Prix, so we have stepped up the training to try to knock him off. I would like to run a few more “A” qualifiers, and win the Nationals so that I can be automatically selected for the Commonwealth Games.

 

LR: When I got back from Europe we sat down and identified that I needed to increase my mileage, and I needed to do that gradually. I have had a stint down in Falls Creek and I am finding that I am really handling the mileage well. I am up to about 80km/week now.

 

[Editor’s Note: You can find out even more about Lachlan’s training at his blog]

 

 

LR: No, I was in Europe during the Australian winter.

 

 

LR: I think I’ll leave that one.

 

 

LR: I think I’ll leave that as well!

 

 

LR: Well, starting off I think that you need a whole lot of natural talent and good genes. If you look at David Rudisha he is 6 foot 2 and he has a great pedigree. He’s the African record holder, having run 1:42.01, or the fourth-fastest all-time. His father was an Olympic medalist as part of the Kenyan 4 x 400m relay team. He is an all-around athlete, but having said that…it takes a lot of hard work. As they say, “hard work beats talent every time.”

 

 

LR: I have done a lot of hard sessions, but probably repeat 400s off a short recovery would be the hardest session.

 

Ryan Gregson was recently profiled by Len Johnson on runnerstribe, and you can learn more about him here

We asked the outstanding junior, who has transitioned extremely well to senior competition, about his thoughts on 800m racing in Australia this year.

 

RG: My goals are to compete well and to lower my personal bests. I have been focusing on the 800m and 1500m.

 

 

RG: My training has been going great. I have been training uninjured for over a year now. No, I don’t change my training for this event. My training is all fitness related.

 

 

RG: Yes, I competed at the World Junior Cross Country Championships in Amman, Jordan in 2009. I didn’t do any road races last year.

 

 

RG:  I may be racing in this race so I have a conflict of interest, but I think that Bromley, Renshaw and Riseley are the ones to look out for.

 

 

RG:  Riseley, Renshaw and Bromley.

 

 

RG:  It takes a lot of talent and more than a lot of hard work.

 

 

RG:  Something with a time trial at race pace first, then having to do a large amount of repetitions straight after with minimal rest.

 

 

Ryan Foster is a Hobart native who is currently in his second year of studies at Penn State in the USA. In early February 2010 he broke the 41-year old Australian indoor 800m record. His time of 1:47.48 was four tenths of a second faster than the previous record set by Olympic gold medalist Ralph Doubell in 1968.   Two weeks later he ran 1:47.32, but it is believed that record will not be ratified as the indoor track he was racing on did not meet IAAF standards. I caught up with him from his training base in the USA.

RF:  Yes, I focus almost exclusively on the 800m. My goal is to win an NCAA title either indoors or outdoors. Time-wise I would like to run in the 1.45.xx's.

 

RF:  Training is going very well. I had H1N1 (swine) flu back in October/November 2009 but that is the only training I have missed since I took time off at the end of last season (June 2009). I haven't made many changes to training. I have only been in this system for 18 months so there are still a few adjustments made here and there, but we follow a reasonably predictable schedule.

 

RF:  Yes, I competed in a number of cross country races for my school. I think that cross country is one of the most important aspects of my preparation.

 

RF:  I'm not fully aware of who is running the trials yet (I'm not even sure if I am). I think though that Lachlan Renshaw is going to be tough to beat, and if Ryan Gregson chooses to run the 800m then he could steal it with his kick at the end.

 

RF:  That changes depending on what level I am competing at. When I race within my conference it is Zach Beth from Wisconsin and Adam Hairston from Iowa. At NCAA levels it is the top guys like Andrew Wheating. I did race Sean Tully from Villanova a lot and we were never separated by more than about half a second but he's graduated now.

 

RF:  I think to run that kind of time you have to be exceptionally genetically gifted. Only three runners have ever broken 1.42 and when you consider just how many people have trained for and run this event that is an incredibly small percentage. There are some people that reach a level that is almost superhuman.

 

 

 

RF:  That's a hard question to answer as there are all kinds of hard. I used to train for 1500m + distances and I found those workouts a lot harder than 800m workouts. That said, I think one of the hardest 800m specific workout I have done is 9x200 in 27s with 60 seconds recovery and then a 10 minute break followed by an all out 600m.

 

In 2006, Nick Bromley set his personal best time over 800 metres of 1:47.36 during a heat of the Commonwealth Games. He has a stellar record in the National Championships 800m, finishing 3^rd in 2004, 2^nd in 2008, and winning in 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2009. He has recently been spotted being paced by a cyclist whilst running the ‘white fence’ at Sydney’s Centennial Park.

 

 

NB:  This year I have planned to focus on the 1500ms. Last year was the first year

I changed my training to develop more endurance. I went from 100 km/week to average around 120-130 km/week. The season didn’t plan out the best due to illness (sleeping problems) so I decided to run the 800m at nationals as I knew I could always touch up on speed work in the closing weeks and have a good chance of winning. This year I have my mind and goals set on the 1500m. This will still help my 800m but my plan is to qualify for the 1500m for the Commonwealth Games and get faster/better at the 1500m.

 

 

NB:  Training has been going well.

 

 

NB:  No road races last season but I plan to have a big crack at the City to Surf in the next year or two. I ran 44.11 two years ago after not training for 3 weeks, as I was on my break. So I hope in a few years I could possibly go under 43 minutes.

 

 

NB: 
First - Bromley

Second - Gregson

Third - Alex Rowe

 

 

NB:   People have asked me many times about this. I believe a rival is someone you can never "read" and someone you never can "relax" around. My main rival would have to be Ryan Gregson as I know he has the same weapon as me but has a fitter engine to go with it! The athlete I feel that always shows he will put something different every time he races is Mark Abercrombie. He might not have the fastest time in a race but he will always put himself in a good spot and he isn’t scared of anyone. He is one of the oldest guys in the 800m's at the moment but continues to perform at an elite level.

The beautiful thing about 800m is that you get athletes moving down from the 1500m and you also get athletes who move up from the 400m. Look at Jeff Riseley. He couldn’t break 23.5 for 200m, yet he can still run 1.45 low. Grant Cremer ran 1.45.21 and he also wasn’t that fast over 200/400m. If you can run 24 seconds for a 200 meters you should be able to run 1.45 if you have the engine. Nic Bideau always says this to his athletes. The 800m is not about how fast your get to the 600m mark - it is about how you finish the last 200m.

 

 

NB:  I think a really hard session is 6 x 200m's with 90 seconds jog recovery in 25's. Also 4 x 400m's with 8 minutes recovery in 52's. Being able to walk away "un hurt" from these sessions you know if you have recovered well enough -  you will be ready to roll.

 

 

Jeff Riseley made up for what he described as his “worst nightmare” Olympic debut in 2008 (when he was suffering from the effects of a virus) by running 1:45.48 for 800m (putting him number 7 on the Australian all-time list) and a scintillating 3:32.93 for 1500m in 2009. This 1500m time is the second fastest on the Australian all-time list, behind Simon Doyle’s 3:31.96 1991 national record. He’s not planning to race at the upcoming Sydney Grand Prix, but will instead race at the Melbourne Grand Prix

 

 

JR:  I will focus on the 1500m this year – I will hardly run an 800m race until I’m in Europe. I hope to get into a fast 800m race in Europe when I'm a bit sharper and see what I can do. I want Doubell’s record, though.

 

JR: Training has been going well; I had a fair amount of time off with plantar fascia but I am on top of it now. I haven't changed anything in training; I train like a 5-10k runner for most of the year and am just trying to get as fit as possible.

 

 

JR: No, with the European season the way it is I never get a chance to do in cross country, unfortunately. I do enjoy it a lot, though - getting out there and doing something I'm not very good at.

 

 

JR: No idea, but a hot tip is that I won’t be running.

 

 

JR: Lachlan Renshaw seems to have a good grip on the 800m at the moment in Australia.

 

 

JR: Wilson Kipketer is probably a good man to ask. The 800m is such a tough event because you can come at it from many different angles. There are usually two types of runners -your 400/800m guys and your 800/1500m guys. I am the later and I need to be as fit as I can be while still being able to run the first lap in 50sec and still feel comfortable running that pace.

 

 

JR: 6-8 times 1k and 4 times 2k at ‘Polic Paddocks’ up and down the hills off 1minute recovery can be a tough session. I really struggle with quarters at Falls Creek, as I was hurting a lot there the other week. As I say, I train like a 5-10k runner for most of the year. To me fitness is the key and where I find I improve the most because it is something I'm not that good at. I see an improvement over 3k from 8.10-7.50 as more important than going from 47-46 over 400m.

 
View Runner's Tribe athletes pages for all of these athletes:

Lachlan Renshaw
Ryan Gregson
Nick Bromley
Jeff Riseley
Ryan Foster