OT: Marathon world record Sunday in Chicago!

[Blakeon18]

Running away with it: Kiptum sets marathon WR

Kenya's Kelvin Kiptum shattered the men's marathon world record in Chicago on Sunday, winning in 2 hours, 35 seconds to best the previous mark by more than 30 seconds.

www.espn.com

The link takes you to a short article on Kenyan Kelvin Kiptum's great achievement....time of 2:00.35 seconds.
Getting close to breaking the 2 hour barrier! Will not be the least bit surprised if a Kenyan does it within the year...uhh...being
pushed by other Kenyans.

Note: the article uses the phrase 'world record'. We have discussed here that since marathon courses are all very different that the use of
that phrase may not be technically accurate in some listings. World low? World best? Whatever....Under 2 hours is coming!

 

[Bigboote]

Must have been great weather. The women’s winner also set a course record.

Back in my running days I loved the days when it was around 35-40 at the start and maybe 50 a few hours later (no 2.5 hour marathons for me).

 

[MilfordHusky]

I set my PR in Chicago in 2001, but my time was about double that of Kiptum. It's a very fast course, along with Berlin and London.

 

[stamfordhusky]

Running away with it: Kiptum sets marathon WR

Kenya's Kelvin Kiptum shattered the men's marathon world record in Chicago on Sunday, winning in 2 hours, 35 seconds to best the previous mark by more than 30 seconds.

www.espn.com

The link takes you to a short article on Kenyan Kelvin Kiptum's great achievement....time of 2:00.35 seconds.
Getting close to breaking the 2 hour barrier! Will not be the least bit surprised if a Kenyan does it within the year...uhh...being
pushed by other Kenyans.

Note: the article uses the phrase 'world record'. We have discussed here that since marathon courses are all very different that the use of
that phrase may not be technically accurate in some listings. World low? World best? Whatever....Under 2 hours is coming!

"World low" or "world best" would not be appropriate, since "world records" in the marathon must be achieved on courses that meet certain criteria. Thus a world record can be very different from a world low based on several objective standards. In fact, at least one marathoner has run significantly faster than 2 hours already. Was a "world low", but not a "world record"

First, to be a record-eligible course, the finish line cannot be more than approximately 13 miles from the starting line to limit the effect of wind. A course that runs straight out for 26 miles cannot produce a world record since there could be a wind at the runners back for the entire race. Secondly, the course cannot be significantly downhill over the 26 miles. Specifically, the max drop is limited to 1 meter per km over the course of the race. Thus a course like Boston doesn't qualify under either criteria. And thirdly, pacemakers cannot be used to block the wind.