Sub 2 hour marathon attempt



Harry Angstrom said:
Running 26 miles in under 2 hours is a load of bollocks?
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However it doesn't mean anything regarding the record etc
He's probably capable, on a good day and on a fast course of going near the two hours without the assistance from drop in/out pacemakers and a timing car shielding him from wind.
Now that would be something amazing.

Remember some runners in the past doing ridiculously fast 100m times with massive tailwinds. These are quite rightly ignored. I'd view this sub two hour marathon in the same way.
 
Cee Jay said:
However it doesn't mean anything regarding the record etc
He's probably capable, on a good day and on a fast course of going near the two hours without the assistance from drop in/out pacemakers and a timing car shielding him from wind.
Now that would be something amazing.

Remember some runners in the past doing ridiculously fast 100m times with massive tailwinds. These are quite rightly ignored. I'd view this sub two hour marathon in the same way.
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It won't be an official record but will be an amazing feat.
 
Harry Angstrom said:
It won't be an official record but will be an amazing feat.
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His 2 hr 2 minutes or so current PB worth more and I's say more of an amazing feat.
Do it in a city marathon and I'd be the first to be cheering from the rooftops.

As an earlier poster says these current running shoes will also go the way of the swimming "speedsuits" that were banned.
 
Cee Jay said:
A timing vehicle taking the wind ?

Or pacemakers dropping in and out ?

Massive massive difference
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Bannister had his own pacemakers, who the heck do you think Brasher and Chattaway were...Brasher would set the pace first lap as agreed then Chattaway take over running the splits required until the final 200 metres. plus Bainnster wasn't even going to run until the wind suddenly dropped right before...the race was purely to break the four minute barrier. It had no significance otherwise..He indeed only took the lead only at the start of the last bend, as they had practiced in training many times..yet the 4 minute mile was hailed rightly as the greatest athletic achievement of its time. it was not Meh..and neither would breaking two hours in the marathon. It would be a remarkable feat of human athleticism.
 
wasnotwas said:
A record should only count if there are no pace makers and the race is true run. The record should be disregarded if there is any evidence of pace making or other assistance and that includes having a timing car in front.
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It wont be recognised as a world record. It is a gimmick, but a fascinating one involving possibly the best marathon runner of all time. Very silly to dismiss it.

redandwhiterob said:
Staggers me when doing a 5k park run when you see the speed of the folk running it in 16 minutes then think how fast must the elite athletes be:eek::lol:
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His 5k splits are about 14.20. Absolutely nuts when the parkrun record is about that.

Jasper said:
He’s doing it in London apparently. Fair play. You can barely drive 26 miles in London in 2 hours.
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Wonder where they'll find a course that flat in London? Saw battersea park mentioned. Is that flat as a pancake?
 
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When your get that close it becomes as much mental as physical..as mentioned before Bannister had pacers..but a few months later, at what is still billed the miracle mile and the race of the century at the old Empire stadium in Vancouver for the Commonwealth games both Bannister and Landry broke the four minute barrier in a true race. Still coaches today warn young track stars about it because Landry looked the wrong way down the straight and Bannister overtook him.

Once the two minutes is broken..likely with pacers etc..it will soon be broken afterwards in true races.

The Miracle Mile - 1954 - A Moment In Time
 
jcrossan said:
Bannister had his own pacemakers, who the heck do you think Brasher and Chattaway were...Brasher would set the pace first lap as agreed then Chattaway take over running the splits required until the final 200 metres. plus Bainnster wasn't even going to run until the wind suddenly dropped right before...the race was purely to break the four minute barrier. It had no significance otherwise..He indeed only took the lead only at the start of the last bend, as they had practiced in training many times..yet the 4 minute mile was hailed rightly as the greatest athletic achievement of its time. it was not Meh..and neither would breaking two hours in the marathon. It would be a remarkable feat of human athleticism.
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Of course I bloody know that they were pacemakers....I referred to both as pacemakers earlier. The difference with the marathon effort is that the pacemakers actually started, whereas in the planned marathon event pacemakers will join afresh well into the 26 miles.
Pacemakers from the start, not a problem.
The race btw was some minor AAA race. It wasn’t set up with the purpose of breaking the record. Bannister entered to obviously try and break the record. This was a record that would go down in history books

The marathon event might be an amazing event of endurance but completely artificial and means nothing.

Nearly as much as Gatlins best ever 100 metre time. Not exactly one for the sporting historical archives
 
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Cee Jay said:
Of course I bloody know that they were pacemakers....I referred to both as pacemakers earlier. The difference with the marathon effort is that the pacemakers actually started, whereas in the planned marathon event pacemakers will join afresh well into the 26 miles.
Pacemakers from the start, not a problem.
The race btw was some minor AAA race. It wasn’t set up with the purpose of breaking the record. Bannister entered to obviously try and break the record. This was a record that would go down in history books

The marathon event might be an amazing event of endurance but completely artificial and means nothing.

Nearly as much as Gatlins best ever 100 metre time. Not exactly one for the sporting historical archives
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Even if pacemakers join afresh, somebody still has to physically run that fast and for that long. I don’t think it is artificial and it certainly doesn’t mean nothing, even if it isn’t allowed as a race conditions record.
 
Kent_Mackem said:
Even if pacemakers join afresh, somebody still has to physically run that fast and for that long. I don’t think it is artificial and it certainly doesn’t mean nothing, even if it isn’t allowed as a race conditions record.
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Gatlin ran 9.45 for 100m ..in your thinking the fact that he had to physically run that distance in that time isn’t artificial. Not many remember this or give it great recognition

He used a wind machine, the marathon attempt would alternatively block the wind with a pace car and pacemakers that will undoubtedly run ahead of him, thereby further giving assistance against the wind.
 
Cee Jay said:
Of course I bloody know that they were pacemakers....I referred to both as pacemakers earlier. The difference with the marathon effort is that the pacemakers actually started, whereas in the planned marathon event pacemakers will join afresh well into the 26 miles.
Pacemakers from the start, not a problem.
The race btw was some minor AAA race. It wasn’t set up with the purpose of breaking the record. Bannister entered to obviously try and break the record. This was a record that would go down in history books

The marathon event might be an amazing event of endurance but completely artificial and means nothing.

Nearly as much as Gatlins best ever 100 metre time. Not exactly one for the sporting historical archives
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To say such a feat would mean nothing is ludicrous. Gaitlin's effort was a circus, a huge wind machine blowing him along for 100 metres for heaven's sake. He might as well have ridden a bike.

And two pace makers in a mile race with the second one drafting off the first so he is fresh for the final 600 metres (in a four lap race) well, is it so much different than a fresh pace makers arriving at the ten mile mark in a marathon. Sure it is contrived but whenever a runner attempts a record time rather than winning the race itself it is by nature contrived..they pick the course, they pick the conditions and they pick suitable pacers: as did Bannister. If there is a head win they would't bother...as again Bannister considered dropping out because of those earlier conditions. And, once he had broken the time, others quickly followed, including Bannister and Landry's great mile race in Vancouver as i mentioned earlier. To break two hours will be a remarkable achievement and unless the fellow gets a ride on the bus half way along should be respected and not dismissed as simply a trick. If it was then it would have been broken some time ago. A man covering 26 miles in under two hours deserves respect if and when it happens.
 
jcrossan said:
To say such a feat would mean nothing is ludicrous. Gaitlin's effort was a circus, a huge wind machine blowing him along for 100 metres for heaven's sake. He might as well have ridden a bike.

And two pace makers in a mile race with the second one drafting off the first so he is fresh for the final 600 metres (in a four lap race) well, is it so much different than a fresh pace makers arriving at the ten mile mark in a marathon. Sure it is contrived but whenever a runner attempts a record time rather than winning the race itself it is by nature contrived..they pick the course, they pick the conditions and they pick suitable pacers: as did Bannister. If there is a head win they would't bother...as again Bannister considered dropping out because of those earlier conditions. And, once he had broken the time, others quickly followed, including Bannister and Landry's great mile race in Vancouver as i mentioned earlier. To break two hours will be a remarkable achievement and unless the fellow gets a ride on the bus half way along should be respected and not dismissed as simply a trick. If it was then it would have been broken some time ago. A man covering 26 miles in under two hours deserves respect if and when it happens.
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Gatlin didn't have it for the full 100M , otherwise he would have been sub 9 secs
Kipchoge's Nike Monza event or his Ineos challenge are no less a circus, albeit interesting ones to some.
Kipchoge is amazing and I'd love him to do a genuine sub 2 hour without the assistance.. Running sub 2 hours is of course amazing, but it doesn't mean anything to me, other than being a novelty, with the artifitial help.
Pacemakers starting a race and then taking over duties is, in my opinion, totally different to pacemakers dropping in( for example every few miles)
 
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Cee Jay said:
Gatlin didn't have it for the full 100M , otherwise he would have been sub 9 secs
Kipchoge's Nike Monza event or his Ineos challenge are no less a circus, albeit interesting ones to some.
Kipchoge is amazing and I'd love him to do a genuine sub 2 hour without the assistance.. Running sub 2 hours is of course amazing, but it doesn't mean anything to me, other than being a novelty, with the artifitial help.
Pacemakers starting a race and then taking over duties is, in my opinion, totally different to pacemakers dropping in( for example every few miles)
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Well we differ in that. I'd love to watch him do it even with the contrived pacer element as long as it is a certified course. But each to their own..

By the way i recently talked with a world renowned running gait expert in Calgary who was with Kipchoge and the other Nike runners in Kenya while training for the London event. I asked him if he thought Kipchoge would ever break two hours and he said he didnt figure so because of his age. he also said such is his psychological supremacy over all the other younger marathon runners that he didnt see that time being beat until Kipchoge himself retires..likely after Tokyo next year. They are so intimidated by the man that they feel as though if he cant do it they can't.
 
Cee Jay said:
Gatlin didn't have it for the full 100M , otherwise he would have been sub 9 secs
Kipchoge's Nike Monza event or his Ineos challenge are no less a circus, albeit interesting ones to some.
Kipchoge is amazing and I'd love him to do a genuine sub 2 hour without the assistance.. Running sub 2 hours is of course amazing, but it doesn't mean anything to me, other than being a novelty, with the artifitial help.
Pacemakers starting a race and then taking over duties is, in my opinion, totally different to pacemakers dropping in( for example every few miles)
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Aren’t you a very keen cyclist? Do you ride in a peloton?
 
Goat Eyes said:
Aren’t you a very keen cyclist? Do you ride in a peloton?
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I used to time trial..there you’d get flogged to shit for even taking a 5 second tow off someone passing you.
Don’t ride club runs etc as I try to avoid benefits of soft pedalling behind someone ( plus I’m a miserable twat)
The benefits of avoiding the wind and keeping your cda down were the holy grail

Used to run as well till injuries forced the switch
 
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