the ed ’ s desk by SEAN FALCONER
Sean Falconer
THE ED ’ S DESK
the ed ’ s desk by SEAN FALCONER
True Speed !
In this month ’ s edition of the mag , we have an article about the men ’ s and women ’ s marathon World Records , both of which were broken in recent weeks . Kenya ’ s Kelvin Kiptum clocked 2:00:35 to set a new men ’ s record in Chicago , just two weeks after Ethiopia ’ s Tigst Assefa ran 2:11:53 in Berlin to break the women ’ s mark . This got me thinking just how fast that men ’ s record really is !
There has been so much hype around Eliud Kipchoge in the last few years , not just because he broke the World Record a number of times , bringing the mark down to 2:01 for the first time , but thanks largely to his Nike-sponsored quest to run a sub-2:00 marathon . He did it at the Ineos 1:59 Challenge in Vienna , Austria in October 2019 , clocking 1:59:40 , although it did not count as a World Record due to all the contributing factors , including a pacing vehicle and that he could slipstream behind , and more .
Writing about Kiptum ’ s record run got me thinking , just how fast his 2:00:35 is , and how that would feel to a mere ‘ Average Joe ’ runner like myself , so I did some research . His average pace for the race was an incredible 2 minutes 51 seconds per kilometre . In my 30 years of running , I have managed to dip under four minutes per kay in terms of average pace in a few short races and time trials , and I will openly admit I was splitting a proverbial gut doing so . I can ’ t even imagine running sub-3:00 per kay , let alone doing so for 42 kays ! to run at Kiptum ’ s race pace on a special , giant-sized treadmill . You have to watch to vid yourself , so I won ’ t give way any spoilers , but let ’ s just say it didn ’ t go so smoothly … Wait , just go watch the vid by clicking on the pane below !
Can They Go Even Faster ?
Kiptum is proving to be a remarkable athlete . His three marathons to date have resulted in scintillating times of 2:01:53 ( the fastest debut in history ), 2:01:23 ( at the time , the second-fastest ever run ), and 2:00:35 , which took 34 seconds off Kipchoge ’ s World Record . While many thought Kipchoge would be the first to break two hours officially in a race , it now looks more likely that 23-year-old Kiptum could be the one to do it . Then again , maybe this will stir 38-year-old Kipchoge to give it another go and write his name in the annals of history alongside the likes of Roger Bannister , the first to break four minutes for the mile .
Either way , it ’ s going to be one hell of a show for us Average Joe runners to watch as the marathoning fireworks continue in coming years . In the meantime , tuck into the new mag and enjoy the read , then perhaps you ’ ll also feel like lacing up the running shoes and seeing how fast you can go . Just warm up properly , because Average Joe hamstrings need to be primed for that kind of speed !
Sean Falconer
Kiptum did have slightly faster or slower sectors of the race in Chicago , depending on the course and race tactics , but his average speed for the race was an incredible 5.83m per second , or 349.92m per minute , which equates to 20.995km / h . Now again , I think back to my own running , and in years gone by I used to crank the gym ’ s treadmill up to 20km / h towards the end of a 10-minute or 20-minute run , but I could only hold that pace for a few minutes at best . Granted , I never tried going straight to 20km / h , I always built up to it steadily , but even so , I don ’ t think I would have been able to sprint that fast for longer than a few minutes anyway .
Then I came across a really funny video on YouTube , produced by the guy of LADbible , as UK news and entertainment brand , where two of their presenters tried
Can You Match Kiptum ?
The lads at LADbible headed over to Canning Conveyor in the UK to see if they could run as fast as new marathon World Record-holder Kelvin Kiptum , and soon found that you need to be a world class marathoner to run world class times !
Image : Chris Hitchcock & courtesy Chicago Marathon
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