Sub 2 Hour Marathon Discussion: My Thoughts and Yours

Aha! someone out there who actually "gets it"!

So where are all you big-time race directors? Any of you out there reading this blog? Mr Pinkowski are you out there? Here is your chance to organize an event that is near and dear to every marathoner and athletics fan....a "attempt" at holding 2 hour marathon pace for the maximum distance humanly possible, where drafting is not only encouraged it is professionally orchestrated. You can expect to see the 25K and 30K world records drop in the process, so this is indeed going to be a "world record" attempt. You will need world class 10K runners to set the early pace, followed by world class half marathoners to lead the charge in the middle. Then you need the very best group of marathoners to take the torch forward after the half marathon mark. They all get an equal payday regardless of who wins, and the payday gets incrementally bigger for each checkpoint they are able to hit under the sub two hour marathon pace. I for one think they could hold it to 30K and smash the 30K world record in the process. After that...who knows. The sponsors would line up for this... if you build it...they will come!

Here's one that hasn't been mentioned. Most marathoners end up running .10-.15 longer than the certified distance due to not working the tangents perfectly + the 0.1% add factor that is required for certified road courses.

Assuming the WR was run in a similar fashion, the 2:03:38 would actually be about 2:03:01 if we were to eliminate the extra .13.

I would add the only way one could eliminate the certified required +0.1% (which equates to .026 miles or 8 seconds) would be to run the marathon on a track.

2040 is my guess, by a Tibetan.

Excellent point! An old roommate of mine taught me the lesson of running the tangents years ago. (your initials are not M.M. are they?) Anyway...It seems when they measure the course that they actually assume you will cut corners and run over the sidewalks. So if you stick to the "blue line" then you are certainly adding distance to the course. I see it again and again with my GPS watch. So the course either has to be on the track or designed to have minimal cornering. We need a custom designed course if it is going to be on the roads. It is not totally impossible! It can perhaps be done...but not by one person on his own.

Every year, Chicago and London are set up as world record attempts. Where have you been?

Can't believe this hasn't been mentioned:

http://www.vudu.com/movies/#

!overview/119233/The-Games

Now that we know about cross fit it's bound to happen soon

Why is this even a discussion? Two of the fittest marathoners on the planet ran record ineligible Boston with a gale at their backs and they still couldn't break 2:03. How long will it take just to break 2:03? We're at least a hundred years from 2:00 - if it ever happens at all.

But races like London, Chicago, Rotterdam, and Berlin are not set up as team time trials are they? in the end it´s every man for himself. I am saying that team tactics need to be employed and encouraged (financially speaking) in order to get the record times to drop from here. Imagine a 10,000M race with 25 starters, and each one taking his turn in the lead for one lap, letting the fastest guy win in the end.....no surges....just steady pacing with drafting. How fast could they get a guy across the finish line if they all worked together? Now extend that to the marathon? Could they go under 2:03? I think yes. So Raymond...do you agree?

It will be done. And it will be done by Kip Litton.

So this thread is dead.....?

bekele peak could run 201 in his prime.

he might even run 202 as an old man.

so if you had geb and belele at 28 years old and a handful of 203 guys running three wide and two deep, with a couple of them left to help to 30k, 200 could happen.

but nobody is going to set up that race.

so 202 low looks like the practical limit for now.

by the way, i assume bekele was capable of 26 flat for 10k.

so 1420 5k pace is pretty slow for a guy like that. you just need the phenom with the fuel to go all the way. it's a fuel question, not a speed question.

bekele peak could run 201 in his prime.

he might even run 202 as an old man.

so if you had geb at 28 years old and a handful of 203 guys running three wide and two deep, with a couple of them left to help to 30k, 200 could happen.

but nobody is going to set up that race.

so 202 low looks like the practical limit for now.

by the way, i assume bekele was capable of 26 flat for 10k.

so 1420 5k pace is pretty slow for a guy like that. you just need the phenom with the fuel to go all the way. it's a fuel question, not a speed question.

MarathonMind wrote:

Why is this even a discussion? Two of the fittest marathoners on the planet ran record ineligible Boston with a gale at their backs and they still couldn't break 2:03. How long will it take just to break 2:03? We're at least a hundred years from 2:00 - if it ever happens at all.

boston is not a fast course.

who says these guys can't run a minute faster too?

Wejo made a comment saying that when Bannister broke the 4-minute mile, runners were able to run 3/4 of the race at sub-4 pace.

We are not that far in the marathon. How many more miles could Tadese have run in his 58:23 Half Marathon? had he run +59, he certainly could've finished +25k at sub-2h pace.

How about Kimetto 25k WR in Berlin?

I calculated quickly and I think it's about 2:00:20 Marathon Pace.

While I don't think it will be broken soon, it's certainly not that far as some assume to be.

I cannot help but attempt to bring this thread back to life, especially now that some phd from England is saying more of less exactly what I said many months ago.....if a team of fast runners were to work together with incentives for a team time trial attempt, the 2 hour marathon barrier could be broken. Please read my comments throughout this thread, so I do not have to repeat myself. It can be done.....but it takes a team effort, not just two or three fast guys. I am talking 10-15 guys. I hope on day some race director tries to stage it.

Have the equivalent times been considered? How about 57:15 half marathon, 26:03 10K, and these would have to be on a road, not a track.

Good analysis. However, when I raced marathons the WR was in the 2:08s. I think the future of running will involve diet and, yes, various enhancers that will open esoteric debates about ethics. I don't have much confidence in current records. This reminds me of the Bonds/Sosa era.

Breaking 2 hours on a certified course...good luck:) Running 2 sub 1 hour half marathons in a row would be quite a feat and very unlikely to happen for a long, long time.

Look at the fastest half marathon times and try to envision them slowly up slightly per mile and doing 2 of them...I don't think so:)

Because it's a nice round number, then it should be doable, right? Wrong.