I don’t care how cynical you are - a 2 hour marathon is incredible to behold.
Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t - you’re right!
OT: incredible world record set in Chicago today
- Thread starter CatManTrue
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I don’t care how cynical you are - a 2 hour marathon is incredible to behold.
Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t - you’re right!
I think I posted this on twitter, but my guess is that well over 90% of the people in the entire world could not run a single mile in 4:36, and this guy did it 25.2 more times! The last time I was actually in decent shape -- the year I turned 40 I decided to start doing Bulldog Bootcamp in Lincoln Park at 5 a.m. every morning, doing body weight calesthenics and running outside (I started Jan. 2). They measured our time for a mile run. I think I started at just over 9 minutes, and after 5 or 6 months got my time down to 6:30 or so.
The Bulldog crew "worked" the Chicago marathon while I was a member. We showed up down by the tunnel at McCormick Place, and ran alongside the slower runners, doing our military-style chants. We couldn't do it with the elite runners because even after already having traversed some 24 miles, they still sprinted by us like we were standing still. The slower runners appreciated the support, especially at a time so late in the race that any additional adrenaline probably came in really handy.
A two hour marathon is absolutely insane. And yes st.paul, the elite marathoners do get tested.
The Bulldog crew "worked" the Chicago marathon while I was a member. We showed up down by the tunnel at McCormick Place, and ran alongside the slower runners, doing our military-style chants. We couldn't do it with the elite runners because even after already having traversed some 24 miles, they still sprinted by us like we were standing still. The slower runners appreciated the support, especially at a time so late in the race that any additional adrenaline probably came in really handy.
A two hour marathon is absolutely insane. And yes st.paul, the elite marathoners do get tested.
I would guess the percentage of people in the world who could run a single mile in 4:36 is ~0.0001%. An estimate, of course.
No performing-enhancing drugs, but sure enough, he's Kenyan. They do seem to have some sort of inherent advantage. Are they training at altitude at Mount Kilimanjaro or something?
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There are many really incredible athletes who wouldn't break five minutes for a single mile. The idea that someone is going to eventually run a sub-two hour marathon is crazy!Chicago is a great place to run a marathon in terms of altitude, and this year it was really nice and cool on race day.
What a great accomplishment and I can't wait to see someone shave 36 seconds off that time
From a few years ago, but yes, they tend to come from a high-altitude area:
And I was worried that I was going to be accused of exaggerating
You still said "well over 90%," so technically you're right. I can barely drive a mile in 4:36 (ok, THAT's exaggerating). If I ever ran one mile in 4:36 it would likely be the last mile I ever run. Or walk.
I hope when someone does it in under two hours someday it's treated like breaking the four-minute mile.
I'd bet that if you tried to drive the marathon route today, with normal traffic and lights, you'd struggle to do it in two hours.
There are several animals that can out-sprint man over short distances, but in long, endurance runs, man is actually one of the top animals. At least, I read it on the Internet.
I agree and I still think it will happen. What's important is to start by telling athletes it's impossible to do.
Then you just have to wait.
This is the same reason I've always believed there's no way Ferris Bueller could've done all that in one day and still make it home by like 5:30. Traffic would've been horrendous, especially given the Cubs game AND the parade.
Yeah, I was going to say: when I was in 8th grade Cross-country, running a mile in 6 minutes put you as one of the best in the whole state. So the number of people who could run a mile in 4:36 I’d imagine is 0.01% at best.
That's one of the things that still motivates me to keep jogging (I wanted to say running, but that just aint close to the truth right now at 62)... watching nature programs and seeing what wild animals do to survive. The one that has always stayed with me was a clip I saw years back of wolves chasing caribou. They ran for miles and miles, through snow, of course in ridiculous cold and wind, AND up and down mountains. The narrator described the chase as covering over 30 miles, lasting over two hours, and all animals running over 25 mph. Truly mind boggling. Oh, and the wolves came up empty-handed.
But what this 23 year old did is just unreal. 4:36 pace for two straight hours.... as an old half miler I can't even get my head around that.
One other similar accomplishment recently worth noting. At the track world championships two months ago, a woman from Ethiopia named Tsegay Gudaf came soooo close to becoming the first woman ever to break 14 minutes in the 5000 meters (3.1 miles), running 14:00.21. Her pace was roughly 4:36 per mile. Also incredible.
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Not anymore. Now, every year there are at least fifty 8th graders just in Chicago and the suburbs running under 5 flat. Its shocking (to me), but there's always at least one precocious 8th grader running 4:30 or better. That's just ridiculous for a 14 year old.
Some of you old time track guys might remember this - back when I was in HS in the late 70s, there was a publication called "Timely Times", which was the source for Illinois HS track coaches. It listed roughly the top 75 performers in every event throughout the state, and came out weekly. I used to sneak into my coach's office and read it. Back then, 4:36 would be probably in the top 20 for milers by state meet time. Today, it wouldn't make the list (it would for small schools). There are easily 75 runners in Illinois every year running under 4:30 (and 20 or more getting under 4:20 - more amazing). You'd be extremely fortunate to qualify for the state meet running 4:36 (in 3A).
So 4:36 in the mile by any standard is a fabulous level of fitness, but its become very common in HS. Its amazing how many HS kids run that fast every year now.
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