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Eliud Kipchoge Breaks Two-Hour Marathon Barrier

nytimes.com

131–140 of 281 posts

Re: Eliud Kipchoge Breaks Two-Hour Marathon Barrier

#131
post #47
post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Marathon runners would run naked if they could. Certainly don’t want or need some heavy gadget on their head.

A device like google glass wouldn't be much heavier than their usual glasses.

Every once counts. Also, it would be a pain to keep on while running.

Are there any ultramarathon runners that wear glasses while they run?

Re: Eliud Kipchoge Breaks Two-Hour Marathon Barrier

#132

The LetsRun thread on this is pretty great, starting with a heated debate about his shoes. Were they too springy? https://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=9640871

Wow, that was not heated but toxic. I had to nope out of that after reading the first 2 pages.

Not toxic, just informed. When people follow a sport closely ("passionately") they're more likely to be offended by and call out bullshit. The shoes provide a significant mechanical advantage that most consider unfair. Others claim they're just shoes, but then you might as well claim that rollerblades are shoes.

This comes on the heels of US anti doping handing a 4 year ban to the coach of Nike's elite running team. People who follow that side of the sport have little faith that athletics (or cycling, or any other sport) is any cleaner now than in past decades, which is to say, every successful endurance athlete is on some kind of gear.

Re: Eliud Kipchoge Breaks Two-Hour Marathon Barrier

#133
post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For the non-initiated among us, what does it mean to "use a team of pacemakers"? Why are those pacemakers that important?

When Roger Bannister broke the 4 minute mile, he also had pacers.

Those were different; they all started at the same time as him.

Having pacemakers in marathons that way is deemed acceptable. The organization of a marathon will even specifically hire runners to, say, run the first half in one hour ten minutes, after which they are free to step out of the race.

Here, each pacemaker, including the ones that accompanied him to the finish line, ran for only about 9 km (my guess, given 35 pacemakers used and using groups of 7). So, the last group only started running when Kipchoge has run for over one and a half hours.

Re: Eliud Kipchoge Breaks Two-Hour Marathon Barrier

#135
post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A device like google glass wouldn't be much heavier than their usual glasses.

Every once counts. Also, it would be a pain to keep on while running. Are there any ultramarathon runners that wear glasses while they run?

It’s very common to wear sunglasses in an ultramarathon. Runners usually also wear a vest to carry their water, food, safety gear, headlamp, etc.

Re: Eliud Kipchoge Breaks Two-Hour Marathon Barrier

#138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Besides, he already has the official world record anyway. This was an experiment to see if it was possible to shave a couple dozen seconds off the marathon time of the greatest marathon runner of all time. Doing it again in race conditions—whether it’s by Kipchoge or another runner—will be a historic milestone but there is greater confidence that it will happen now. Besides, I know you can’t control for adrenaline an…

I'm not alone in thinking this, but it's not just his pace that makes him truly remarkable, it's his consistency. I can't remember accurate numbers, but I think it's like in ten consecutive marathons, he came first nine times. Runners are prone to injury, and if you're not feeling 100% on the race you're likely to not win or run at your best.

He has won all ten of his last ten marathons. He was beaten by Wilson Kipsang in the 2013 Berlin marathon, but Kipsang ran a world record time. Kipchoge is incredibly consistent in arguably the most competitive field in history. He is an extraordinary athlete in both performance and spirit.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eliud_Kipchoge#Competition_rec...

Re: Eliud Kipchoge Breaks Two-Hour Marathon Barrier

#139
post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wait ... why a laser projection? You could just use the car for pacing.

Maybe for keeping a safe distance without having to eyeball it, or for avoiding the fumes.

Road cyclists frequently draft behind a car or motorcycle; motor-paced racing used to be a very popular discipline and motorcycles are still used for pacing the Keirin event.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motor-paced_racing

Re: Eliud Kipchoge Breaks Two-Hour Marathon Barrier

#140
post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For the non-initiated among us, what does it mean to "use a team of pacemakers"? Why are those pacemakers that important?

When Roger Bannister broke the 4 minute mile, he also had pacers.

The rule for pacers is that they must start the race at the same time and be able to keep up with the runner being paced, though they don’t have to finish it. Swapping fresh legs in mid-race isn’t allowed.

In a college indoor track 5K, one of my teammates was being lapped by another teammate competing for a podium spot. The guy being lapped started sprinting to help the guy near the front of the race finish strong. That was ruled illegal pacing and they were both disqualified. It was a similar sort of situation — in order to legally pace you must be able to keep up with the runner your pacing.

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