PSU Is 800U: Why Does The 800M Hurt So Much?

"Light yourself on fire and then roll in broken glass to put out the fire!" -from Isaiah Harris's Twitter Feed, explaining how to replicate the feeling after an 800M race.

"If you run an even-paced 800 [both laps the same], you're under-performing. The guy who slows down the least is usually the winner."  -Physiologist Ross Tucker.

Many agree that the 800M, when run all-out, hurts more than other events.  Some disagree about the "most" part, but anyone who has run a fast 800M (880Y for me!) knows the truth about the hurting part.  I personally think the 400M all-out might be worse, but I only ran it once!

Here, an exercise physiologist tries to explain this phenomenon.  Go ahead and disagree if you must, but there is no doubt it does hurt.

The 800M Hurts!

 And this M45 Master Runner became the first to run under 1:50.00 for the 800M!