depends on how long that runner has been at altitude when they race. I coach XC and track in SC and compare them regularly to national times and CO as a state seems to always be smoking the national rankings due to altitude. They're usually running DI splits by senior year.

If that helps..

Depending upon the altitude it can have a significant effect and times are generally slower as a result. NCAA will adjust the times for national qualifying times for races at altitude with an adjustment factor. www.tfrss.org has the results of NCAA qualifying times by event and rankings by individual and teams.

400 is a sprint and races at altitude are faster. The world record set at altitude in the Mexico City olympics stood for 20 years.

800 I don't know, but the 800 world record was also broken in the Mexico City olympics.

Googled this... this is interesting, especially given the other two responders saying times are FASTER at altitude. I get cycling being fast in thin air, but running all out and getting HR up is tough.

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Colorado Triathlon Company, CO2UT 2021, Crooked Gravel 2022, Steamboat Gravel 2022

At 400m, there wouldn't be much difference. The 800, depending on the athlete, is roughly 50/50 aerobic/anaerobic, so the cost would be greater than the aerodynamic benefit. See the chart on Training Peaks for aerobic metabolism decline due to altitude at the-effect-of-racing-at-altitude Nite that the aerobic performance decline is much lower in acclimatized athletes.

downloaded the NCAA Altitude converter from
http://rtspt.com/ncaa/altitude.exe


This shows the 400 at 50 sec at CO altitude converts to 50.21 sec at sea level - so slightly faster at altitude than sea level.
The 800 at 1:50 converts to 1:48.75 at sea level - so a good second slower at altitude.



That's about what Ken was saying, and what I would have guessed. The 400 is a sprint and minimally aerobic, so the thinner air is a benefit. The 800 is significantly more aerobic and the lower oxygen content per volume of air at altitude has its impact..

Interesting, thanks!!

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Colorado Triathlon Company, CO2UT 2021, Crooked Gravel 2022, Steamboat Gravel 2022