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The world’s women marathon record continues to fall, yet its rulebook and courses remain unchanged.
When Ruth Chepng’etich became the first woman to dip under two hours and 10 minutes in 42km contests at the 46th Chicago Marathon last Sunday, the running world was shocked.
By and large, her jaw-dropping world record of 2:09.56 put to test the belief of fans. It has raised questions on the extend with which technological advances in athletics would slide women into all-time marks.
The difference between the women-only record (2:16:16 of Peres Jepchirchir) and of Ruth Chepng’etich (2:09:56) is six minutes 20 seconds – both the records set this year – which means around 2km apart!
The battle for faster times –especially on flat courses – elicited an arms race among America’s shoe manufacturer Nike and rival Adidas of Germany in which World Athletics came out with a plan to regulate shoe technology.
Athletics experts say several factors could contribute to breaking the women’s marathon record in the future.
Renato Canova, the veteran Italian athletics coach, said he expected Chepng’etich to slap a new world record in Chicago.
“I expected a clear attack on the world record. I expected something slightly better than Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa’s world record, just around 2:11:30. At the end, the performance was a surprise looking at the entity of the improvement. Without any doubt, the new shoe technology can give a good advantage (more for women than for men) in racing.
“But the entity of the advantage is not the same for everybody. There are ‘high responders’ and ‘poor responders,’ and the two categories have advantage only that the ‘high’ can attain around three minutes of improvement because of the shoes, the ‘poor’ can have improvement of just one minute,” Canova told the Nairobian from his base in Italy on Tuesday.
“This happens because many situations, different among them, are involved in this advantage: running technique, weight of the athletes, morphology, combination of length and frequency of the strides.
“On this point of view, we can have in a race athletes lining up, with the same shape with difference in the final time. Also if every marathon is 42.2 km long, the preparation for a fast and flat course like Chicago, Berlin, Valencia, Rotterdam, Amsterdam or Seville, is not the same needed in preparations for Boston, New York or this year’s Olympic Games. “For Chicago, Berlin and Valencia, we have to do more speed in training (of course, always with enough volume), sometimes going on track too while for Boston we need to use specific hilly training at high intensity for being able to run well on the Heartbrake Hills area.”
Chicago is a pan-cake flat course with 31 turns while Berlin is another flat course with 17 turns.
Canova says: “Ruth is 30 years old with a long experience in marathon; able to analyse the feeling of her body during her training so that she can decide herself which is the best workout to do and how long recovery needs after a high demanding training before settling for a race of high intensity.
“We need also to consider that women are normally able to suffer physical pain at a higher level than men, and this can explain why sometimes it’s possible to find some woman able to ‘escape ahead’ in the history of some event. I don’t think women can go for 2:05 in a short time but, of course, the current world record can be bettered by some athlete of top talent, fully connected with the marathon,” he said.
On the extent to which men pacesetters help women run fast times, Canova says, it’s ideal.
“This is under these conditions: the athlete doesn’t have to decide tactical solutions, but has to concentrate on running fast only. The best athletes have personal pacers who can regulate their speed according to their feeling in every moment of the race. Men pacers can give moral support when the athlete needs, and can use the best even pace for a final performance.
“On how much advantage the presence of male pacers can give is clearly showed when there is a marathon for women only or during World Championships or in the World Marathon Majors that use a common start for men and women (London, New York).
“The next problem at the level of setting a new world record is to find a pacer able to run 2:08 or better in full control: he needs to be an athlete able running that day in 2:05-2:06, since he needs to have margin of fatigue for preserving the ability to support the lady for all the race. But this is something for the future. Wait and see,” said Canova.
Dr Kipchumba Byron, a Kinesiology and sports science expert from University of Georgia, says advancements in training techniques, nutrition and recovery, technology in footwear, increased competition and scientific research could continue to push the boundaries and achieve new records in athletics.
“Improved training methodologies including periodization, altitude training, and personalized coaching, can help athletes optimize their performance as well as enhanced knowledge of nutrition including tailored diets, hydration strategies, and recovery protocols, can improve an athlete’s endurance and performance.
“The latest innovations in running shoes such as those featuring carbon-fiber plates and specialized foam have proved to enhance performance and reduce fatigue, allowing athletes to run faster.
“Psychological coaching and mental strategies can help athletes perform under pressure and maintain focus during the race and continued research into sports science can provide insights into body mechanics, injury prevention, and performance enhancement,” said Kipchumba.
Chepngetich’s record-breaking performances have garnered significant attention from coaches and analysts alike. “Her training must have included a mix of high-mileage runs, speed work, and specific marathon preparation techniques. Key elements of her training may have included; long runs, building endurance through weekly long runs at varying paces.
“There are also tempo runs, which involve incorporating tempo sessions to improve lactate threshold and overall speed. In between, there is interval training. These are short, intense intervals to enhance speed and running economy. This comprehensive approach allows her to optimize performance and aim for record-breaking results,” adds Kipchumba.
Chepngetich went through 5km in a blistering 15:00 and 10km in 30:14 – times which are quicker than her PBs for those distances. She then hit halfway in 64:16 – only a few seconds outside her PB of 64:02 and the fifth quickest time in history for 13.1 miles.
Chepngetich’s 2:09.56 means the women’s world record is 9:21 slower than Kelvin Kiptum’s men’s world record of 2:00.35.
