What is the weakest running World Record?

Probably one of the shorter ultra distances - I'm thinking that if the money was there, the top marathoners of today would simply crush the times.

For instance, the 50km road record is 2:43:38. From way back in 1988. It's not hugely different than a marathon, in terms of distance. And that time is equivalent to around a 2:15 marathon. There's hundreds of runners that could beat it.

The women's 50km road record is 3:08:39 - equivalent to a 2:35. Soft as hell.

the one hour run

Approximately one million people have broken :50 for the 400m. Not one person has done it twice without stopping. The answer is obviously the 800m.

Fastest marathon dressed as a chef (female):

4:54:49

http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/430675-fastest-marathon-dressed-as-a-chef-female

on a track wrote:

the one hour run

^ This. Does the record still belong to Toshihiko Seko?

I seem to also recall Arturio Barrios holding the record in some obscure distance

Not Nomar wrote:

Approximately one million people have broken :50 for the 400m. Not one person has done it twice without stopping. The answer is obviously the 800m.

Citation? Interested if this is true. Doubt it, however. Probably less than 3,000 mean a year break 50 in the 400m, and if you say people have been timing track meets for 200 years (which is an overestimation by far), that's only 600,000 men. Plus, the men that do it year to year can be the same people that did it in past years, which means they don't count as new people. I am calling BS on this stat.

Some kind of indoor age group time in a weird event like the 300 or 1200 probably

Or there’s always the marathon on an indoor track... I wonder if someone could get lapped and then come up from behind to win the whole darn thing

I think Haile has the hour record.

The answer is ANY ultra record. Since there's no money in it, nobody legit has run one yet.

The 26.3 mile dash.

Let’s focus on real events. The steeple is the weakest. If all of the top runners focused on the steeple, the world record would be much faster. Start training Rupp, Jenkins, Centro, and Chelimo....and Jager may no longer be the top American.

The statistics have already been done. It’s the men’s 5000m followed by the men’s 10000m.

https://web.archive.org/web/20090716204739/http://footloose.runnersworld.com/2009/02/mark-denny-a-ge.html

Men's 60m.

In that article, it says the male marathon theoretical record is 2:00.47..... Kipchoge already beat that.

Let´s see how long it will take for ventolin/calculo to show up and claim that record x is "piss poor".

The 4x110y record has been around since 1967. Why would anyone bother having a stab at an imperical measured record you might ask. Well, they keep having a go at the mile record don’t they. Anyways, the record is 38.6h set in Provo, Utah. Still a fairly useful time considering it is longer than the standard 4x100m.

One of the members of that USC Trojan Team was former NFL star OJ Simpson. Jamaican, Lennox Miller also guided the baton along on that record breaking day, therefore the record did not fit the criteria for any national records.

Bib #1 wrote:

on a track wrote:

the one hour run

^ This. Does the record still belong to Toshihiko Seko?

I seem to also recall Arturio Barrios holding the record in some obscure distance

Barrios held the 10000m world record for 4 years (27:08) and also the one hour run record at 21.1km in 1991 (looks to me that he may have hit "half marathon" in 59:58 or so, which would be first sub 60 half).

That one hour record held for 16 years until Geb broke it in 2007 with a 21.285 run (went through half marathon in 59:28.

Bib #1 wrote:

on a track wrote:

the one hour run

^ This. Does the record still belong to Toshihiko Seko?

I seem to also recall Arturio Barrios holding the record in some obscure distance

Probably not this. You realize that Geb has that record?

Not Nomar wrote:

Approximately one million people have broken :50 for the 400m. Not one person has done it twice without stopping. The answer is obviously the 800m.

Such a strange way to look at it. I don't believe anything like a million people have actually run under 50 for the 400m for a start.

1:39 is impossibly difficult.

The weakest track record is the 600m outdoors. An out of shape Rudisha and Bosse got mighty close on a blustery day in slightly chilly Birmingham with no pacers.

1:12.8 gives 48.5 through 400m as an average pace. We've seen 800m runs hit 400m in 48.5-49.0 and still hold it together like Kipketers 800 WR.

Rudisha could go through 400m in 47 flat and take the record down to 1:12.0.

After that it's the 1000m. Just not been attempted enough over the years. The average pace is outside 1:45.5 for 800m. Should be more in the region of 2:11.0

Also the 2 miles could be improved significantly. So many of the super elite runners find a 4 minute mile a jog. The 5k record is 4:04 miles for 3.1 miles! We had a 16 year old Norwegian run 3:57 last year.

Farah ran 8:03 indoors mostly by himself when not in top shape.

2 mile record should be in the 7:56 range and many more top athletes should have broken 8:00 (El G, Bekele, Geb, Farah and Kipchoge even)

Not Nomar wrote:

Approximately one million people have broken :50 for the 400m. Not one person has done it twice without stopping. The answer is obviously the 800m.

The 440 yard world record, 49.4 was set on grass by Lon Myers, 1885 was the first official sub-440 yards/400m. We have seen sub-1:43 guys average about 3 3/4 seconds or so slower than their 400m PB for 800m. We have seen a couple of sub-45 second 400m guys average about 6 1/2 seconds slower than their 400m PB over 800m. In so many words you are asking: Why can't a sub-45 second 400m runner average about 5 seconds slower than their 400m PB for 800m? A sub-45 400m runner does not necessarily have the incentive to move up in distance. Four-hundred metre athletes have their own lane the entire race. Those of us who race distances longer than 400m are used to dealing with tripping, other runners stepping on one's foot, getting boxed in, etc. Many sprinters want no part of those worries.