Comparing records broken 46 years ago is asinine and Rono’s records were marginal improvements. This is normal for sports in their relative infancy - see women’s basketball. Most were equaled or beaten in due time. Today was an absolute beatdown where the winner crushed a likely doped record and beat a world class field by over a literal mile. Go home and stop trolling.
Related to this, does comparing the % difference between men's and women's WRs really make much sense? I know it should, because we are talking about percentage difference... but consider this:
a 345 1500m is ~9% off the 1500 WR, and a 2:11 marathon is ~9% off the marathon WR. I think we can all agree these aren't remotely similar performances (for men). The 211 marathon is much better.
Similarly, top high school boys would crush Faith K in a 1500m; but the top female marathoners could compete with (or even beat) top NCAA male runners in the marathon (and this is assuming the NCAA guys were given a year or whatever to train for it).
The marathons aren’t fully comparable because women get 42K of pacing and men are lucky to get 30K.
It's just crazy and suspicious to me that she would have won the 2016 US Trials for men and gotten the bronze medal at the 2016 Olympics in the men's race. Faith is an amazing runner and generational talent, but there is no way in hell she would have beaten Matt or anyone else on the podium even if the races got out slower and ended in a huge kick back then.
It's really simple - what we see now is the first ever generation of African women that a) grow up running from an early age, and b) heads almost directly to the Marathon while still young.
Remember that African girls mostly weren't even allowed to train like boys (with a few exceptions) until the late 90s. The Ethiopian female medal surge didn't start until around the millenial shift. The Kenyan women arrived as world beaters even later.
There's probably hundreds of little girls back in Kenya that has taken up running from an early age and are about to break out on the scene given the chance. I don't think we'll see a WMM winning time above 2:15 ever again, unless bad weather hits the course/day.
Get used to it! ;-P
This post was edited 3 minutes after it was posted.
It's really simple - what we see now is the first ever generation of African women that a) grow up running from an early age, and b) heads almost directly to the Marathon while still young.
Remember that African girls mostly weren't even allowed to train like boys (with a few exceptions) until the late 90s. The Ethiopian female medal surge didn't start until around the millenial shift. The Kenyan women arrived as world beaters even later.
There's probably hundreds of little girls back in Kenya that has taken up running from an early age and are about to break out on the scene given the chance. I don't think we'll see a WMM winning time above 2:15 ever again, unless bad weather hits the course/day.
Get used to it! ;-P
Those other girls finally allowed to train must not be trying very hard then if she’s making a mockery of their performances. Give me a break.
The Men's to Woman WR differential in pretty much all running events had been 10% +/- 1 percent for the last 30 years.
This performance cuts the marathon WR differential down to just over 6%.
The performance warrants skepticism.
wrong, when Radcliffe ran 2:15 low, the WR was 2:05 high. The differential was actually the same as it is now. (92.8% v.s 92.8%)
Comparing the difference in 100 meters vs Marathon (and above, let's not forget above) is ridiculus to begin with - unless women suddenly start pushing out babies in 10 seconds flat.
Women's record in ultra running are currently going down faster than men's. It probably has to do with women on average having higher pain tolerance inherited from ancestors surviving it without pain killers etc.
If you think of life expectancy as an ultra women already have the overall world record when the race gets long enough and something like eighty percent of women outlive their brothers = genetical equals.
wrong, when Radcliffe ran 2:15 low, the WR was 2:05 high. The differential was actually the same as it is now. (92.8% v.s 92.8%)
Comparing the difference in 100 meters vs Marathon (and above, let's not forget above) is ridiculus to begin with - unless women suddenly start pushing out babies in 10 seconds flat.
Women's record in ultra running are currently going down faster than men's. It probably has to do with women on average having higher pain tolerance inherited from ancestors surviving it without pain killers etc.
If you think of life expectancy as an ultra women already have the overall world record when the race gets long enough and something like eighty percent of women outlive their brothers = genetical equals.
I supposed you're replying to the person above me? Because we're actually in agreement with each other.
It's really simple - what we see now is the first ever generation of African women that a) grow up running from an early age, and b) heads almost directly to the Marathon while still young.
Remember that African girls mostly weren't even allowed to train like boys (with a few exceptions) until the late 90s. The Ethiopian female medal surge didn't start until around the millenial shift. The Kenyan women arrived as world beaters even later.
There's probably hundreds of little girls back in Kenya that has taken up running from an early age and are about to break out on the scene given the chance. I don't think we'll see a WMM winning time above 2:15 ever again, unless bad weather hits the course/day.
Get used to it! ;-P
Those other girls finally allowed to train must not be trying very hard then if she’s making a mockery of their performances. Give me a break.
We've seen 2:11, 2:13 and 2:09 within about a year. From three different women. Meanwhile no-one outside of T&A really cared about who won the 5000 and 10000 in Paris, and furthermore those distances will not be a part of Michael Johnsons new League pushing American runners ever more into even shorter distances.
Kenya and Ethiopia is taking over the female Marathon with 2:10-2:15 performances. Get used to it.
Comparing the difference in 100 meters vs Marathon (and above, let's not forget above) is ridiculus to begin with - unless women suddenly start pushing out babies in 10 seconds flat.
Women's record in ultra running are currently going down faster than men's. It probably has to do with women on average having higher pain tolerance inherited from ancestors surviving it without pain killers etc.
If you think of life expectancy as an ultra women already have the overall world record when the race gets long enough and something like eighty percent of women outlive their brothers = genetical equals.
I supposed you're replying to the person above me? Because we're actually in agreement with each other.
It's just crazy and suspicious to me that she would have won the 2016 US Trials for men and gotten the bronze medal at the 2016 Olympics in the men's race. Faith is an amazing runner and generational talent, but there is no way in hell she would have beaten Matt or anyone else on the podium even if the races got out slower and ended in a huge kick back then.
She would not have. Those races didn’t feature personal pacemakers, pancake flat courses and perfect conditions.
CJ beat her by 1:40 and I think you can bet he might’ve gained a few more seconds with two pacemakers.
This post was edited 2 minutes after it was posted.
The thing that came from her post-race interview is how much she’s wanted the record, which put things in perspective that her many previous blowouts had intent. She must have believed she’s in WR shape for years.
Another reason that this performance hasn't ruined the marathon: she probably won't win her next race. Elite running is about racing - who wins. The next time Chepngetich races Hassan, who would you back? My money would still be on the 2:13 woman. Times are all well and good, but what really matters is who wins and who wins when it really matters. Hassan is still the most fearsome female marathoner on the planet, even after this 2:09 performance.
By Kenya's standards, the bar for marathoning in America is low.
That's true by Japan's standards, too. The Japanese record for the marathon is faster than the U.S. record -- even though Japan's population is only about one-third that of the U.S.
Even the Japanese collegiate record for the marathon is faster than Ryan Hall's PR (on a course valid for record purposes). And that record was set by a Japanese college junior in his FIRST marathon.
Help us build the best running shoe review site for a chance to win a LetsRun t-shirt.Help us build the best running shoe review site for a chance to win one of 10 LetsRun t-shirts.