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> Consider that the mental aspect of a race is inversely correlated to the distance of a race

I disagree with your quoted statement. I'd say the mental aspect is equally important in the 1/2 marathon as it is in the 5k. In the 1/2s I ran, the mental part was mostly fighting fatigue, whereas in the 5k, it was mostly fighting through pain (and fatigue too, but anaerobic fatigue instead of aerobic)

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I completely understand what you're getting at, and I generally agree.

However, for certain people who might be described as having "no business" at a race, the longer races are going to lean more heavily on a will to complete the distance than an ability to maximize performance. I would guess that for some people (certainly me when I was starting out) their 400m pace may not be that far off from their marathon pace.

And if you run a 400m once, you will have PTSD when you are on the blocks getting ready to run the next.

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