Ken…DUH…yeah, if you are competing in a 200m or a 400m, then ~1.5 to 3 m of extra running can be the difference between gold and 5th.
I didn’t realize that "and most of us run way too far " referred to the potential Olympic sprint champions lurking on the forum.
I would say if you are doing speedwork on the track, running specific distances in specific times and you add 3 meters to every lap it is going to have a pretty big affect both on your times and your mentality.
I don’t know about you, but if I’m doing 400s in 1:30, and I run an extra 3m, that’s an irrelevant .67sec. Lost in the noise of starting and stopping the clock.
I suppose if you only do one it’s no big deal and if you are only doing 400’s but if you are doing 10 400’s or repeat miles then it can make a big difference.