Lap by Lap analysis and photos of Dathan Ritzenhein's 5k at Penn

by John Dye

We used the camcorder timer to get elapsed time each time Dathan Ritzenhein passed the finish line, 13 times in all for the 12.5 lap race. Meanwhile, a spectator, Don McFarlin, took splits from the starting line on the far turn and posted his results on the worldwide t-and-f mailing list.

 

Ritz splits by DyeStat					Ritz splits by Don McFarlin
Pos	splits	elapsed	Laps	Distance	Laps	1600's	Elapsed
8	32.5	32.5	0.5	200
			1	400	68.7
6	68.5	1:41	1.5	600
			2	800	67.6
6	68.5	2:49.5	2.5	1000
			3	1200	67.3
5	67.0	3:56.5	3.5	1400
			4	1600	66.6	04:30.2
5	66.0	5:02.5	4.5	1800
			5	2000	65.3
2	66.0	6:08.5	5.5	2200
			6	2400	66.2
2	65.0	7:13.5	6.5	2600
			7	2800	65.3
2	65.0	8:18.5	7.5	3000
			8	3200	65.6	04:22.5	08:52.7
2	66.0	9:24.5	8.5	3400
			9	3600	66.8
3	67.0	10:31.5	9.5	3800
			10	4000	67.4
3	67.0	11:38.5	10.5	4200
			11	4400	66.7
2	67.0	12:45.5	11.5	4600
			12	4800	65.3	04:26.2	13:19
2	66.0	13:51.5	12.5	5000	32.7		13:51.7

How the race unfolded at the finish line
200 meters - Ritz is in the middle	600 meters - Ritz is near the front in 6th place	1000 meters - Ritz still in 6th
1400 meters - Ritz 5th as field starts to string out	2200 meters - Ritz moves up to 2nd behind Famiglietti	3000 meters - Ritz still 2nd
3400 meters - now it's a 3-man race in the ultimate order of finish - crowd starts rythmic clapping and "go, Ritz"	3800 meters - Peter Sherry (#5) passes Ritz by half a stride	4200 meters - Ritz took the lead on the backstretch to big cheers, but Sherry and Famiglietti came back to go ahead in stretch
Bell Lap: Ritz & Famiglietti are neck and neck with a lap to go		Famiglietti opened up daylight on backstretch to win by 3 seconds; Ritz held second over Sherry