Who really ran the first sub 2 Marathon?

It was 40k so 2:06:36 pace. So Da Costa and Kannouchi would have done it.

Do we have splits for 40K from that time?

In the spirit of this forum, Pheidippides wasn't drug tested. just say'n.

Why would you question when/who would have broken it? What a stupid thread. If it was 1.4 miles shorter at Tergat's pace, you can't do the math? Stupidest post of the Year, by far. This board makes me feel smarter and smarter every time I come here.

Peter Andersson wrote:

The real Marathon distance is 24,8 miles. Dean Karnazes and others have written about this. The first olympic marathons was run over that distance. In 1908 there was distance added so that some spolied brittish royalty could watch the start from some balcony. Thanks a lot from millions of marathon runners since! :-(

Anyway - had the marathon still been 24,8 we'd already seen sub 2 hours. My question is when/who would have broken it? Could Tergat have gone sub 2 when he ran 2:04:55? Or would it have happened already before that?

Maybe it was an early human hunting down some prey?

if 2:06:36 would be on pace to run 2:00 even the when Carlos Lopez ran 2:07:12 in 1985 or Belayneh Dinsamo ran 2:06:50 in 1988. there would have been a whole lot of motivation to run 30-60 seconds faster to be the first under 2 hours. It would have been done long before the 2000's.

Gerry Lindgren

Andersson's "Peeder" wrote:

Why would you question when/who would have broken it? What a stupid thread. If it was 1.4 miles shorter at Tergat's pace, you can't do the math? Stupidest post of the Year, by far. This board makes me feel smarter and smarter every time I come here.

Peter Andersson wrote:

The real Marathon distance is 24,8 miles. Dean Karnazes and others have written about this. The first olympic marathons was run over that distance. In 1908 there was distance added so that some spolied brittish royalty could watch the start from some balcony. Thanks a lot from millions of marathon runners since! :-(

Anyway - had the marathon still been 24,8 we'd already seen sub 2 hours. My question is when/who would have broken it? Could Tergat have gone sub 2 when he ran 2:04:55? Or would it have happened already before that?

So who was it?

Hero of the Trolls

LRC Jerkhole wrote:

In the spirit of this forum, Pheidippides wasn't drug tested. just say'n.

Douche' bag, it doesn't matter...get it? Dear God some of you people are morons on your best day!!!! D2, buy a clue if you're lost!

i chose D2 wrote:

Andersson's "Peeder" wrote:

Why would you question when/who would have broken it? What a stupid thread. If it was 1.4 miles shorter at Tergat's pace, you can't do the math? Stupidest post of the Year, by far. This board makes me feel smarter and smarter every time I come here.

So who was it?

i chose D2 wrote:

So who was it?

Well going off the marathon world record progressions, the first runner to go under that 2:06:36 threshold was Ronaldo da Costa in '1998.

But other posters are correct that, as athletes got nearer to that 2:00 hour threshold, the motivation would've been even greater. In '88 Belayneh Dinsamo ran 2:06:50, which is close enough that I think he could've cracked it if he were chasing it.

Carlos Lopes was also close, running 2:07:12 in '85 but that was near the end of his career, so it's hard to say if he'd have had enough in him at that point to drop another thirty seconds.

I don't think DeCastella could've done it, as his PR (2:07:51 at Boston '86) was more than a minute slower, and right after he ran that time, he never came close to it, nor did he win another major marathon.

So the long short of it is, da Costa was definitely the first to break 2 hours, but Dinsamo definitely could've done it as early as '88 had he been chasing it.

The big unknown of course is, could that 2 hour barrier have motivated some Athlete X to chase it, who without it never really challenged himself. There is always the chance someone might have emerged who otherwise wouldn't have.

[quote]Andersson's "Peeder" wrote:

Why would you question when/who would have broken it? What a stupid thread. If it was 1.4 miles shorter at Tergat's pace, you can't do the math? Stupidest post of the Year, by far. This board makes me feel smarter and smarter every time I come here. [quote]Peter Andersson wrote:

It's "If it WERE 1.4 miles shorter..."

And "Year" shouldn't be capitalized.

But please, go on...

Neanderthal man.

Steve Jones - 1985 Chicago Marathon?? Passed 20 miles in 1:35:22.

Not sure what the 'real' marathon distance is being decided by. It was completely unstandardized until 1924. The marathon distance varied from race to race.

1896 40 24.85

1900 40.26 25.02

1904 40 24.85

1906 41.86 26.01

1908 42.195 26.22

1912 40.2 24.98

1920 42.75 26.56

1924 onward 42.195 26.22

That is the evolution of the Olympic and other major marathon distances run. 1908 was the year where the famous extra distance was added for the pleasure of the Queen (385y, not 1.4 miles)

This is all very interesting.

It further shows that if you think too much about anything it becomes too ambiguous and odd. Someone can decide tomorrow, perhaps, that a "marathon" is now 26.7 and, clearly that person wouldn't like Nike. Nonetheless our pursuits would all shift accordingly.

Grenio is simply a stupid family name, but please go on...

grenio wrote:

[quote]Andersson's "Peeder" wrote:

Why would you question when/who would have broken it? What a stupid thread. If it was 1.4 miles shorter at Tergat's pace, you can't do the math? Stupidest post of the Year, by far. This board makes me feel smarter and smarter every time I come here. [quote]Peter Andersson wrote:

It's "If it WERE 1.4 miles shorter..."

And "Year" shouldn't be capitalized.

But please, go on...