The professor doing the study claims that they are even 2.6% faster than track spikes.

Alex Hutchinson plots the top 100 marathon times for the past decade and concludes that the recent improvements in times in 2016-2018 "aren’t noticeably bigger than the fluctuations in annual performance in previous years." Also, if it was really just the shoes, there should be a bunch of 2:04 guys running 2:01-2:02 like Eliud Kipchoge.

He claims they even know which athletes are jittery after consuming caffeine due to genetics.

Bedford: “Bob became a second father and his wife Sylvia a second mother. In truth, they had more influence on my development and life than my parents...When I started being coached by him I was the 73rd best junior in the English Schools Cross Country Championships and, nine years later, I broke the world record for 10,000m.”

Broe is also doing a great job with Saucony Freedom Track Club. “The school is a pressure-cooker. I have kids who are crying because they didn’t get into Harvard."

Hutchinson summarizes "seven key messages" around running science and training that can help you become a better runner. *MB: Alex Hutchinson is leaving Runner's World, last column released today

Is Bolt the fastest ever because of or in spite of an uneven stride that has his right leg strike the track with about 13 percent more peak force than his left, and his left remain on the ground about 14% longer than his right? Usually an uneven strides slows a runner down, but apparently not for Bolt.

It's still up in the air though if that work will help their "glucose and insulin response."

Some runners get bored by the isolation - particularly if they go to Kenya.

There is talk of Nike's 4% Vaporflys and some comments from Ross Tucker on how much optimised conditions are worth, but we really liked the quote from World Half silver medalist and 59:10-man Bedan Karoki: “For me breaking two hours is not possible. Running a half marathon in under an hour is hard enough – after I do it I am sick – so to run the same again for me is much too difficult.”

She felt a big impact initially but feels like her body got used to it and doesn't recommend it.

Some interesting topics are discussed here including mileage for mid-d runners, altitude training vs altitude tens and how the most important part of recovery might be "social interaction."

From drinking cherry juice and coffee before you run to doing weighted squats, the scientists (who set distance running back a 15-20 years in the 80s) weigh in.

Check out these impressive workouts by Molly Huddle, Dathan Ritzenhein, Kim Conley and more.

Every 100 grams hurts you by .78% but cushioning helps you by 3-4%.

They say that Bolt's huge height "shouldn't be either an advantage or disadvantage" and argue it's a "misconception" that Bolt has a poor start.