Google+ Running in Cork, Ireland: Is a sub 2 hour Marathon possible???

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Is a sub 2 hour Marathon possible???

There was a recent article on the BBC News website which asked this very question. Over the years, the record has been edging down towards the 2 hour  barrier and it currently stands at 2 hours 3 minutes and 59 seconds.

This was set by Haile Gebrselassie in Berlin in 2008 and he believes that a sub hour Marathon may be possible some time in the distant future, perhaps in 20 years time. Others however believe that the record of 2 hours 2 mins is possible after which it will plateau.

To set the current record, Haile had to run at an average of 4m 43.7s per mile whereas someone would have to run an average of 4m 34.6s per mile to break the 2 hour barrier. That's an incredible speed to maintain over 26.2 miles. Is it possible though???

The full article can be seen HERE

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

on the face it is possible but not immediately. perhaps over a period of time. remember roger bannister doing the sub 4 mile. no one thought it possible until he then did it and then it was followed by a glut of runners

GearĂ³id said...

The reason it was so hard for Bannister, but got easier later was that the training that Bannister and his contemporaries did wasn't great. It was Lydiard, the great New Zealander who worked out modern training. Anything new since then has been tweaking. Scientific monitoring of training may improve it further still. Some records stand for a long time. Donie Walsh's Irish marathon record last for a while, apparently.