Breaking Boundaries - A Marathon Journey

Science is seen in all forms of life and that of course extends to the world of health and sports. Athletic achievements have been progressively pushing boundaries, with even the base level of competitors eclipsing records of the past. The power of science and technology has been at the forefront of improving training and much discussion has been made around whether athletes are getting better or if the training and tech makes all the difference. Some may argue that it is the advancement of science that has shaped athletic performance today. Athletic performance and standard of competition is an exciting domain to explore and I’ll be taking a closer look at some of the more defining advancements in the world of athletic performance.

Marathons are a test of endurance of both physical and mental fortitude. Running for hours, regardless of pace is a disciplined and tenacious form of exercise. Official distance for full-length marathons are just beyond 42km (26 miles) and will take place on roads. Marathons are inspired by historic events in Greece, namely, the delivery of news from the town of Marathon to Athens in an effort of the Persian invasion. Pheidippides was the messenger who would run for days to aid in battle and deliver news with his last breath, an inspiring event indeed. Marathon running is practised all over the world by a wide age demographic. While it is a race, battling oneself in a ritual of self-improvement and there are more than 800 marathons organised worldwide.

It has been a decade of official world record recognition, course regulation is difficult for a number of reasons including terrain, weather and other factors. Current record time for a full-length marathon belongs to Eliud Kipchoge, Kenya. Kipchoge ran the course in 2 hours 1 minutes and 39 seconds, a blistering pace. Paula Radcliffe retains the world record for women’s marathon, running a time of 2 hours 15 minutes and 25 seconds. Elite athletes among even he best is a rare occurrence that is to be marvelled and it’s interesting to take a deeper look at the Science that assists these athletes in pushing boundaries in the world of sport.

Eliud Kipchoge has trained to take on a full marathon in under just two hours, a phenomenal pace. Jumping on a treadmill would soon reveal just how fast this consistent pace is and many would struggle to maintain this for but a few seconds. When it comes to athletic performance, using every bit of knowledge to refine training yields great benefits. One may think it would be a simple affair oh hitting the road and making way to the finish line but there are multiple teams that plan and strategize a run to achieve the very best in a run time. Two hours and 43km is a very long distance to plan for with multiple factors that can be highly influential during a run.

Science based planning aims to maximise runs and nutritional foundation is a big part of this. Fuelling well in advance before a race and during are important for maximum performance. Dietary support needs to settle the body into a state of being able to steadily release energy. Carbohydrate loading is a very essential part of this to allow glycogen storage, a substance essential for running fuel. Eating too little carbohydrates will not work well for athletes as fat adjusted energy burning will be on low supply in the bodies of elite runners.

Training regimes are bolstered by decades of research, allowing the best supportive exercises to be incorporated for a balanced and safe way to improve. For new runners, trying to run in anaerobic conditions for prolonged periods can be dangerous. It takes years of training and conditioning along with natural athletic ability to perfect a sustainable running pace that is among the very best. Science is a support that draws out the best performance of athletes and it played a great role in breaking down boundaries that were thought to be not humanly possible.

Eliud Kipchoge successfully ran a sub 2-hour marathon with an unofficial time of 1 hour 59 minutes and 40 seconds, the first ever in history. An astonishing achievement that shows boundaries can be broken down with the power of people and most importantly, minds. I’ll be taking a closer look at Kipchoge’s journey along with the sciences used to help complete the challenge in future posts!

Sources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marathon

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

https://guides.wiggle.co.uk/running-nutrition-guide-science-sport

https://www.trainingpeaks.com/blog/a-complete-guide-to-proper-marathon-nutrition/