Probably not one of the fastest 100 in history BUT surely one of the best 25 marathoners in history, Carlos Lopes ran his best of 2:07:12 at age 38.(this was a world record at the time)
The question behind the statistic is “why?” Is it because they were actually getting slower, or did they quit running, for societal reasons, before they might have peaked? (Raising kids, getting a job to build a belated retirement account, something else?)
The question behind the statistic is “why?” Is it because they were actually getting slower, or did they quit running, for societal reasons, before they might have peaked? (Raising kids, getting a job to build a belated retirement account, something else?)
Not sure if you know these things or if they’ll change your perspective on things, but:
The 100th fastest male performer in the marathon has run 2:05:20.
97 of the top 100 men were born in East Africa; one was born in Brazil, one in Japan and one in Morocco.
All of the top 100 have run their times in the past 20 years, and the majority (eighty-some?) in the last 10.
Look at the toplist on the World Athletics site. I don’t think many of these guys are consciously walking away from elite competition while they’re still capable of sub-2:05:20.
I believe that the acilles can only take so much pounding before the tendons gets worse at storing energy. Too many start running to many miles at younger ages. A few got the genes to handle it, but most dont. Would be interesting if noone started running before their 20s.
I'm just thinking about D'Amato and Kipchoge's chances on Sunday.
Can anyone name a marathoner in the top 100 in history who ran their pb at age 37 or later?
I'v done the research. Looking at the data on World Athletics, of the fastest 100 men in history, only one man ran his pb at age 37 or later.
Kenenisa Bekele ran 2:01:41 at age 37.
Of the fastest 100 women in history, only three have run their pb at age 37 or later.
Helalia Johannes ran 2:19:52 at age 40 in Valencia in 2020.
Sara Hall ran 2:20:32 at age 37 at the Marathon Project in 2020.
Keira D'Amato ran 2:19:12 at age 37 in Houston earlier this year.
So since the #1 and #2 fastest marathoners in history both ran their lifetime PB at age 37, are you saying that it’s the peak age for top level marathoners?
Nothing new here - Carlos Lopes was 38 when he ran WR 2h07xx back in 1985. Back then it was old as Pro racing was still relatively new. With new super shoes, better money and better drugs?, it only figures that marathoners can keep going longer these days. Look at the women running PR's at 40 (new National record today for Canada).
I'm just thinking about D'Amato and Kipchoge's chances on Sunday.
Can anyone name a marathoner in the top 100 in history who ran their pb at age 37 or later?
I'v done the research. Looking at the data on World Athletics, of the fastest 100 men in history, only one man ran his pb at age 37 or later.
Kenenisa Bekele ran 2:01:41 at age 37.
Of the fastest 100 women in history, only three have run their pb at age 37 or later.
Helalia Johannes ran 2:19:52 at age 40 in Valencia in 2020.
Sara Hall ran 2:20:32 at age 37 at the Marathon Project in 2020.
Keira D'Amato ran 2:19:12 at age 37 in Houston earlier this year.
So since the #1 and #2 fastest marathoners in history both ran their lifetime PB at age 37, are you saying that it’s the peak age for top level marathoners?
This.
Had to laugh when this was trotted out in the LRC coverage as a reason why it's improbable Kipchoge will ever run faster than today.
Let's ignore the fact that people have long questioned the precise age of Kipchoge, Bekele, Geb, etc -- so such an arbitrary (yet very specific) metric would be questionable to begin with.
Fact is, the top two guys of all time are the apparently ripe old age of 37! Then comes the glue factory?
We know Bekele's track record with injuries and inconsistency, so it's no surprise he hasn't bettered his incredible 2:01:41.
Now let's consider the guy who just today ran by far the fastest time ever. Are we to believe he's about to fall off a cliff merely because he will celebrate his 38th birthday? Will lightning strike him (or more specifically his achilles) down?
The guy shows absolutely no signs of slowing down at this point. Obviously he can't keep improving forever. Obviously this magical streak can't last another decade (or even half decade, probably). But this has got to be the funniest calling of the "top" I've ever seen.
I believe that the acilles can only take so much pounding before the tendons gets worse at storing energy. Too many start running to many miles at younger ages. A few got the genes to handle it, but most dont. Would be interesting if noone started running before their 20s.
This is why the US sucks at marathoning. Coddled, afraid bc of misinformation they read online.
How many of the top 100 marathoners are younger than 37 currently, making it meaningless to say that their PB was set when they were younger? I bet a lot, considering the advantage supershoes give you.
Kipchoge's PR is 1:59:40, is not it? And it was set 3 years ago, at the age of 34. So on Sunday he went for his PR (sub-60 first half pace), but failed. In Strava's terms, got a bronze mesal "third best marathon time" 😀
In addition to setting the marathon world record at 38 years old, Carlos Lopes also won World XC that year. He’s still the oldest winner at world cross to date.
So given he ran 2:07:12 without super shoes and today’s fueling products, what’s that worth today? 100th on the all-time list is 2:05:20. If we give Lopes 5 seconds/mile for the combo (130 seconds over the marathon), that would give him a 2:05:02, making the top 100 list.
