BREAKING MARATHON RECORDS

by Rebecca Lee 31.10.08

As thousands get set to take to the road in the New York City Marathon this weekend, Sunday 2nd November, those leading the way will be setting their sights on the world records they aim to break.

But with the limits stretched, how likely is it for athletes to continue to reduce the record? Eis2win.co.uk talks to EIS Physiologist Charlie Pedlar on athletes’ chances of breaking the mould.

“The best way to assess whether we’ve reached a limit is to look at record trends” says Pedlar. “ Recent research on world records shows an S-shaped progression to world records during this century.

“In the first half of the century, there was a gradual improvement and then between 1960 - 1980 when sport went professional,  athletes devoted more time and effort to sport and there were advances in sports science and medicine, you have this rapid improvement before it levels out again" he adds. 

The difference between male and female records also impact on the rate at which records are broken as Pedlar explains. 

"If you look at males versus females the male curve seems to have levelled out more than the female and that may be due to the fact female participants in marathons has increased so much more in recent years (see Nevill & Whyte, 2005 here). So, it seems that the men’s marathon time is less likely to see big improvements than the womens and Paula Radcliffe’s current record is testament to this."  

Haile Gebreselassie crossed the finish line in 2 hours, 3 minutes and 59 seconds in Berlin in September this year, breaking the men’s world marathon record for the second time.

“Another way to look at the prospect of a sub–two hour marathon is to break it down into smaller distances. To get under 2 hours, a man would have to effectively run under 28.5 minutes, for four consecutive 10km distances, ( plus a bit more), which seems unlikely” explains Pedlar.

“Of course it is always possible that somebody will do it one day, because there are always going to be individuals who are born with exceptional physiology for distance running.  Scientists tend to call these ‘outliers’. This includes a range of physiological features which result in an exceptional ability to thermoregulate during running (i.e. remove heat), and a highly efficient running economy, i.e. the ability to use very little energy during locomotion.  Of course this natural ability must be combined with years of dedicated training which requires a deep motivation to succeed” he adds.

Amongst the British athletes competing at this weekends New York City Marathon will be record holder and last years title holder Paula Radcliffe and Beijing Paralympian Shelly Woods.

Photography © Getty Images