The sub-two hour marathon is on
• Project targets marathon barrier
Running a marathon in two hours without drugs can be achieved in the next five years, says University of Cape Town scientist Andrew Bosch.
Running a marathon in two hours without drugs can be achieved in the next five years, says University of Cape Town (UCT) scientist Andrew Bosch.
Kenyan Dennis Kimetto holds the world marathon record of 2hr 2min 57sec set in Berlin in 2014.
“Running sub-two hours is to the marathon what sub-four minutes was to the mile some 60 years ago‚” said Bosch at the Africa launch of the Sub2 project at the Sports Science Institute of SA in Cape Town on Tuesday. “It’s no longer if but when.”
Institute co-founder Tim Noakes threw his weight behind the project‚ suggesting its organisers talk to South African track star Wayde van Niekerk about his mental training.
“You have to convince the brain it is possible‚” he said.
Studies showed that the brain controlled the muscles and the mind would be the greatest hurdle to breaking the two-hour barrier, Noakes said.
Only 46 days after Roger Bannister broke the “impossible” four-minute-mile barrier‚ it was done again by Canadian runner John Landy.
Coaches must believe the sub-two-hour goal was possible to get the runners up to speed‚ like Bannister’s coach did with him, Noakes said.
To break two hours would be like running eight-and-a-half consecutive 5km park runs at 14.13 minutes each‚ said Dave Maralack‚ head of UCT’s sports management course.
In May, Olympic marathon champion Eliud Kipchoge ran a 2:00:25 marathon in a Nikesponsored challenge. The International Association of Athletic Federations did not recognise his record because of noncompliant pace making and rehydration on the course.
Bosch said: “The Nike project took a big chunk off the time. This has shown it [sub-two hours] is certainly possible.”
Nike ran with the sub-twohours quest dreamed up by Yannis Pitsiladis‚ a sports scientist from the University of Brighton in the UK‚ launched in 2014. Pitsiladis has said that Kenenisa Bekele is the man to watch at the Berlin Marathon in September. Ethiopian Bekele is the world record-holder for the 5‚000m and 10‚000m.
The Sub2 team is bringing multidisciplinary expertise — in sports medicine‚ biomechanics and nutrition — to the athletes to improve their performance.
“You mustn’t ever think that the world’s best athletes are surrounded by all these experts. They aren’t,” said Bosch, who is from UCT’s division of exercise science and sports medicine.
Legendary runner Haile Gebrselassie believes it is achievable. He asked the Sub2 team why it had not launched the project earlier so he could have attempted it.