Hot 400's
 

Gary Droze, June 20, 2009

The current heat wave may be stifling physical activity in general – my enthusiasm for mowing the yard has never been lower – but it hasn’t blunted participation in area track meets. Last Thursday’s weekly Summer Series Grand Prix Meet (part of the annual joint venture between the Tallahassee Parks & Recreation Department and the Gulf Winds Track Club) saw strong attendance. As in the first two meets of the series, one event from the slate of races was singled out for Grand Prix scoring. This time, points went to top finishers in the 400 meters, one of the more iconic events in track & field.

What’s so representative about the 400 meters (aka “the quarter,” for old school, pre-metric measurement competitors)? For starters, regardless of their preferred event, everybody who has ever run track expresses at least some familiarity with the 400. Short distance sprinters use the event for endurance work. For example, 2008 Olympic 100m/200m Gold Medalist Usain Bolt assesses his overall seasonal fitness by his 400 meter times. Similarly, Florida State University 200 meter star Charles Clark, who just last week won his specialty at NCAA Nationals, also contributed impressively in FSU’s dominating 4x400 win that closed out the meet and secured 2nd place for the Seminoles.

Also, many distance runners get timed in the one-lapper. Generally, these clockings come during workouts, involving repeat quarters, or in longer races, as they listen for their 400 meter split times. More rarely, these aerobic warriors drop down to the oxygen-depleted zone of their sport, and actually dip their racing toes in this long sprint. On Thursday, sprinters and distance runners alike met to churn once around the oval at Maclay School, and so live out a few lines from Rudyard Kipling’s “If:”

                                           “If you can fill the unforgiving minute
                                           with sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
                                           Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
                                           And – which is more – you’ll be a man, my son.”

Had he viewed Thursday’s 400 meter heats, Kipling would have offered a nod to the women, too. Roughly half of the 130 entrants were females, and their efforts were at least as authentic and complete as the males’ strivings. Kelsey Scheitlin, a sub-19:00 5K runner with a couple of 2009 road race wins under her belt, led all women with a 66-second circuit. Marathoner Kirstin Baggett took the masters category win, in 76 seconds. Male masters ace Jay Wallace held off close challenges for a category win in 63 seconds. Fittingly, the overall victory went to Tyler Braman (52.26), who may have taken inspiration from watching Dad’s (Coach Bob Braman’s) FSU quarterhorses tear up the track at Nationals. Tyler’s hot time matched the conditions.