Sprinters mentality Vs. Distance

The age old question-It has been around since the beginning of high school track and field- Who works harder? distance runners or sprinters? I have an answer. Neither works harder then the other. they just work differently. While distance runners do have the claim that they can run more miles (which they can) that does not make them harder workers. Sprinters get just as sore, just as out of breath and just as winded as distance runners would. Both teams have their faults. Sprinters have slackers that only run workouts at around 30% and distance runners have slackers that hide in the woods from the coaches. The difference lies in the mentality. and the mentality of each of the two respective groups comes out in their training. Sprinters focus on putting forth all their energy, all their effort, and all of their willpower into 400 meters or less. Distance runners use their effort and willpower to keep themselves going for laps or miles. I have yet to see a distance runner run a 200 within 23 seconds and under. And I have yet to see a sprinter run a mile under 5:00. It just does’t happen. Something that was once meant to be a friendly competition between two teams, used to create a better work ethic, has now taken on a whole other meaning. Some distance runners view athletes who do cross training with sprinters as slackers. When in reality one light distance run substituted for a decently hard speed workout would actually help the distance runner in question. The same goes for sprinters, although when a sprinter goes and runs with distance they also are given the negative connotation of “overachiever” when also, in reality, the extra distance work is helping run their races better. Truly the attitude in high school athletics has taken a turn for the worse. A track team is a team and should function as such...without the drama of a 7th grade classroom. Now obviously there are exceptions to the rule. We all know of the slackers who actually skip workouts....So in conclusion: in my opinion neither sprinters nor distance runners work harder, they just work differently. If anyone says any type of workout was too easy then 1) they are not running fast enough and 2) they should have been in the front the entire time.