casual commentary
Fastest Surge in a Major Marathon? 4/28/2012 11:12PM Reply | Return to Index | Report Post
Wilson Kipsang's dominating move around halfway in the recent London marathon got me thinking. His split was 4:30 for that mile and it was enough to tear open the entire field. The only other surge I can remember that might be comparable is Samuel Wanjiru's 4:25 19th mile at the same venue back in 2009.

Has there ever been a faster mile in the middle of a competitive marathon, or even any marathon at all? That's 66 second 400 pace for crying out loud. Some of the slower women's mile races on the circuit come in at this time. It is really astonishing to consider how far marathoning has come.
The sea yields to knowledge
RE: Fastest Surge in a Major Marathon? 4/28/2012 11:21PM - in reply to casual commentary Reply | Return to Index | Report Post
The fastest I've ever heard of is Hendrik Ramaala doing a 4:21 on the seventeenth mile of NYC in 2005.
casual commentary
RE: Fastest Surge in a Major Marathon? 4/28/2012 11:29PM - in reply to The sea yields to knowledge Reply | Return to Index | Report Post
Hot damn. That's crazy!
The sea yields to knowledge
RE: Fastest Surge in a Major Marathon? 4/28/2012 11:32PM - in reply to casual commentary Reply | Return to Index | Report Post

casual commentary wrote:

Hot damn. That's crazy!


I know, right! Paul Tergat hung back and ended up out-kicking him at the end by 1 second.
noparking
RE: Fastest Surge in a Major Marathon? 4/28/2012 11:40PM - in reply to casual commentary Reply | Return to Index | Report Post
mutai in new york 2011? 3 miles in 13:35
http://www.letsrun.com/2011/newyork-menrecap-1106.php
analysis
RE: Fastest Surge in a Major Marathon? 4/29/2012 12:04AM - in reply to noparking Reply | Return to Index | Report Post
Gebremariam ran 14:04 from 25 to 30k in NYC '10. Geoffrey Mutai has the fastest last 2.195k with a 6:05 from Eindhoven '09.
Patrick stare*
RE: Fastest Surge in a Major Marathon? 4/29/2012 6:33AM - in reply to analysis Reply | Return to Index | Report Post
in 2009 boston marathon i think deriba merga had a 4:19 21st mile or something like that. of course that is a huge dowenhill section of the course but he did end up winning so maybe it should count?
casual commentary
RE: Fastest Surge in a Major Marathon? 4/29/2012 7:03AM - in reply to Patrick stare* Reply | Return to Index | Report Post
All right, we've got:

Ramaala @ 4:21
Merga @ 4:19 downhill but won
G. Mutai @ 4:31 for 3 miles in a row (in the last 10k no less)

I'm starting to think that to be an elite marathoner you really do need sub 4 speed, or close. Otherwise how can 4:20-4:30 not kill you after running almost twenty miles at 4:5X pace?
sub3over40
RE: Fastest Surge in a Major Marathon? 4/29/2012 7:56AM - in reply to The sea yields to knowledge Reply | Return to Index | Report Post
The fastest I've ever heard of is Hendrik Ramaala doing a 4:21 on the seventeenth mile of NYC in 2005.

^ This is the fastest one I have heard of also. I watched it on TV....that year was also one of the great finishes in history with Paul Tergat and Ramala in a sprint finish and Tegat by a stride with Ramala collapsing at the finish!
sub3over40
RE: Fastest Surge in a Major Marathon? 4/29/2012 7:58AM - in reply to casual commentary Reply | Return to Index | Report Post
All right, we've got:

Ramaala @ 4:21
Merga @ 4:19 downhill but won
G. Mutai @ 4:31 for 3 miles in a row (in the last 10k no less)

I'm starting to think that to be an elite marathoner you really do need sub 4 speed, or close. Otherwise how can 4:20-4:30 not kill you after running almost twenty miles at 4:5X pace?

Excellent Point...these guys have a lot more pure speed than people realize.
Aachener
RE: Fastest Surge in a Major Marathon? 4/29/2012 8:08AM - in reply to casual commentary Reply | Return to Index | Report Post
den bosch
RE: Fastest Surge in a Major Marathon? 4/29/2012 9:06AM - in reply to Aachener Reply | Return to Index | Report Post
Ryan Hall and a few other guys in the field all split 4:23 or something a couple times in London 2008. And this was en route to his 2:06:17 PR. He needs speed like that again.
Runnerryan
RE: Fastest Surge in a Major Marathon? 4/29/2012 11:10AM - in reply to den bosch Reply | Return to Index | Report Post
The splits for the last 12.195K for the top two at Boston last year are ridiculous. Baldini ran that stretch in 35:05 at the 2004 Olympics which seems unimaginable in and of itself and Mutai and Mosop were both significantly faster than that.
david okeyo
RE: Fastest Surge in a Major Marathon? 4/29/2012 11:48AM - in reply to Aachener Reply | Return to Index | Report Post
casual commentary
RE: Fastest Surge in a Major Marathon? 4/29/2012 12:20PM - in reply to david okeyo Reply | Return to Index | Report Post
Indeed. That chart is pretty much what I was looking for!

Wilson Loyanai holds the record for fastest last 7.195, in 20:23. Who is this guy?
marathonmile
RE: Fastest Surge in a Major Marathon? 4/29/2012 6:20PM - in reply to sub3over40 Reply | Return to Index | Report Post
No doubt, to win a major marathon these days, you need sub-4:00 speed. My guess is that if they had raced a mile instead of the marathon on the same day, the average major marathon winner would go 3:55 or so. Faster with mile specific training.
Cuan
RE: Fastest Surge in a Major Marathon? 4/30/2012 1:37AM - in reply to casual commentary Reply | Return to Index | Report Post
In Dubai this year, Abshero the winner dropped a 2:42km think between 38 - 39km to break away
pr100
RE: Fastest Surge in a Major Marathon? 4/30/2012 2:08AM - in reply to casual commentary Reply | Return to Index | Report Post
The trouble is that you can't really compare surges over different distances. No doubt someone somewhere has run a sub-60 400m in a marathon.
mplatt
RE: Fastest Surge in a Major Marathon? 4/30/2012 10:19AM - in reply to sub3over40 Reply | Return to Index | Report Post

sub3over40 wrote:

I'm starting to think that to be an elite marathoner you really do need sub 4 speed, or close.


Starting to think?
Soon to be sub 15min
RE: Fastest Surge in a Major Marathon? 4/30/2012 8:13PM - in reply to casual commentary Reply | Return to Index | Report Post
Geffrey mutai in la marathon last year 4:02 14th mile