While we've thought the talk of a sub 2 hour marathon is way too premature, we've always couched our analysis with the marathon being run with the standard equipment we have today and on legal courses.
Obviously if a marathon was run point to point downhill with a huge tailwind, sub 2 hours could be reached quicker.
The Armory sent us some quotes in regards to their indoor marathon this past winter where a) some of the top people (including 2015 50k World Champ Tony Migliozzi ) said they recovered faster after the indoor marathon than from a road marathon and b) where the women's winner said she thought the track marathon was faster than a road marathon.
It got us thinking, how much faster (if at all) do you think a marathon run on a track would be? I think we should qualify this a) the theoretical scenario where a track surface were laid out on say the streets of Berlin b) a marathon run on a traditional 400m outdoor track c) a marathon run on an indoor track.
Our assumption is A is faster than B and than C but the real question is how much faster than a road marathon would A),B) or C) possibly be?
Track marathons would have a more forgiving surface than the roads. The downside is the more turns and conceivably spikes wouldn't be run like they would on most track races, but we assume the spikes aren't the sole reason a track 10,000m is considered faster than a road 10,000m.
The quotes from the Armory that prompted us to think about this are here http://www.letsrun.com/news/2016/11/marathon-track-faster-marathon-roads/
Marathon on a Track (Surface)- How Much Faster if Any Do You Think it Would Be?
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Yes you could break 2:00:00. Although Geb's 1 hour track record is inferior to the road half marathon record, surely.
Makes you think... wouldn't the leader lap other competitors? Could end up with some interesting dynamics.
https://arxiv.org/abs/1606.01783 -
Huge indoor facility with mile+ long track (preferably 5K). Climate controlled to 8 C, no wind. Fast times with the right rabbits and prize incentives.
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Maybe someone can fall behind several rounds and then come back to win the whole game
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The real question is, could someone get lapped in a marathon on a track and come back for the win?
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What is the current WR for a marathon on a track?
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How often can you get refreshments, like exchanging hats or getting special drinks?
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netflixned wrote:
Huge indoor facility with mile+ long track (preferably 5K). Climate controlled to 8 C, no wind. Fast times with the right rabbits and prize incentives.
Climate controlled to 8 C? -
8 C or about 46 degrees F.
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I think it'd be a little faster. The key is to let yourself get lapped and then come back and win it.
That's what champions do. -
The actual distance run would be a large factor. I believe tracks are measured 30 cm from the rail so there is an advantage there. Problem is running even two wide is gonna make the whole distance longer.
Another interesting caveat is you could basically have unlimited pacers that jog the first lap and then sit down until they are needed later in the race. I believe this would technically be fair if unsportmanlike (same could be said of paid pacers that drop out too)
If it were an indoor track you could do it any time of year and get it climate controlled. So a banked 300 meter track )I think there are some. That would be huge.
I think it would just depend on how it is set up and paid. Can't have a large field and I think the group would need to come to a consensus of who leads what laps so they run single file. -
It would be about 5-10 mins faster for men, 10-15 mins faster for women
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hrc wrote:
The real question is, could someone get lapped in a marathon on a track and come back for the win?
How often does someone fall more than 400m behind and come back to win in a normal road marathon? At the elite level almost never. Maybe London the year they started suicical fast, and Boston almost the year Meb won? 400m is a long way back. -
New York the year Rita Jeptoo blew up massively.
Chicago the year Tomescu Dita hammered it at the start and blew up massively.
Boston the year the two Spira guys took it out hard, whole field let them get away thinking it was just a promotional stunt, news came back to the field that actually one of the guys had clocked a 60:xx half or something and then they all started hammering it.
I think it happens fairly frequently - you just need to remember all the best blow-ups. -
Great topic. The curves on a regular track would be a problem. Half the time you are running the curve, so half the time you are running longer . It would probably be an extra 200 yards over a marathon. The best design would be about a 2 mile track (1.88 straightaways and .12 curves) with good fencing to block wind. You could even design it so the fencing blocked the headwind and is pulled up so the runners had the benefit of a tailwind.
My guess would be sub 2 men, sub 2:12 women. -
netflixned wrote:
8 C or about 46 degrees F.
yeah, bit chilly don't you think? The Africans won't want it that cold. -
You also want half the distance to turn go clockwise around the track, and the other half to go counterclockwise. That way your legs will stay even.
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On a track, when you lap other runners, you have to cover more ground. That's something to consider, too.
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Here is a well recognized Olympian that has a track marathon PR (2:42) and a road marathon PR (2:26) set 2 years apart. I assume the track was a 400m or 440y oval and was 16 minutes slower. Perhaps the constant turning would slow the pace.
http://tedcorbitt.com/Personal_Records.html -
adambeston wrote:
The actual distance run would be a large factor. I believe tracks are measured 30 cm from the rail so there is an advantage there. Problem is running even two wide is gonna make the whole distance longer.
Another interesting caveat is you could basically have unlimited pacers that jog the first lap and then sit down until they are needed later in the race. I believe this would technically be fair if unsportmanlike (same could be said of paid pacers that drop out too)
If it were an indoor track you could do it any time of year and get it climate controlled. So a banked 300 meter track )I think there are some. That would be huge.
I think it would just depend on how it is set up and paid. Can't have a large field and I think the group would need to come to a consensus of who leads what laps so they run single file.
I know of a 440m track- the Olympic Oval at Utah.
