It would only be mirrored directly if you randomized the lanes beforehand.
Seeding fastest in the middle will override the differential in reaction
time. The important question is whether the same athlete would run faster in
1 versus 8.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Dan Kaplan" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <t-and-f@lists.uoregon.edu>
Sent: Saturday, June 21, 2008 10:49 AM
Subject: Re: t-and-f: Lane Assignment and Reaction Time
Interesting, to say the least. It makes sense on one hand, but then why
do the typical overall results not mirror that pattern? Rarely do you see
the inside to outside lanes go fast-to-slow. The implication is that
reaction time has little to do with overall finish.
I could see the 200m being a bit different, where the starter is more
toward the center of the pack on the turn, but the research addresses the
straight laned races...
Dan
http://AbleDesign.com - Web Design & Custom Programming
http://Run-Down.com - 10,000 Running Links, Fantasy T&F
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@ o Dan Kaplan - [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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--- On Sat, 6/21/08, Roger Ruth <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
From: Roger Ruth <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: t-and-f: Lane Assignment and Reaction Time
To: t-and-f@lists.uoregon.edu
Date: Saturday, June 21, 2008, 4:13 AM
Today's edition of the Vancouver edition of Globe and
Mail includes an
article that's interesting, but without enough
information to know how
well-founded is that interest.
It describes a study undertaken at the University of
Alberta in which
researchers examined reaction times for the 100m sprint and
110m
hurdles at the 2004 Olympic Games and found that runners in
the lanes
closest to the starting pistol had significantly faster
reaction times
than those in lanes farther away. This effect was said to
be especially
strong for runners in lane one.
Unfortunately, the dimension of this difference is not
given in this
report, so whether it would affect an individual's
measured time in
these events cannot be determined. The article says that a
report on
the research, by Dave Collins and Alex Brown, is published
in the June
issue of Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise. If
any of our
subscribers has access to this journal, perhaps she or he
can fill us
in on the over-all effect of this difference in reaction
times.
