A new formula for sub- 2 hour marathon run

University study finds ‘ perfect balance’

IT’S THE ultimate feat of human endurance that only one man in history has so far accomplished.

And new research shows elite runners need a specific combination of physiological abilities to have any chance of running a subtwohour marathon.

The study is based on detailed testing of athletes who took part in Nike’s Breaking2 project – an ambitious bid to break the twohour barrier.

Professor Andrew Jones at the University of Exeter said the findings reveal that elite marathon runners must have a “perfect balance” of VO2 max ( the rate of oxygen uptake), efficiency of movement and a high “lactate turn point” ( above which the body experiences more fatigue).

The VO2 measured among elite runners shows they can take in oxygen twice as fast at marathon pace as a “normal” person of the same age can while sprinting flatout. “Some of the results – parphysiological

ticularly the VO2 max – were not actually as high as we expected,” Prof Jones said.

“Instead, what we see in the physiology of these runners is a perfect balance of characteristics for marathon performance.

“The requirements of a twohour marathon have been extensively debated, but the actual demands have never been reported before.”

The runners in the study included Kenyan long- distance runner Eliud Kipchoge, who took part in Breaking2 – falling just short of the two- hour target – but later achieving the goal in 1: 59: 40.2 in the Ineos 1: 59 challenge.

Based on outdoor running tests on 16 athletes, the Breaking2 study found that a 59kg runner would need to take in about four litres of oxygen per minute – or 67ml per kg of weight per minute – to maintain a two- hour marathon pace of 21.1km/ h.

“To run for two hours at this speed, athletes must maintain what we call ‘ steady- state’ VO2,” Prof Jones said. “This means they meet their entire energy needs aerobically from oxygen – rather than relying on anaerobic respiration, which depletes carbohydrate stores in the muscles and leads to more rapid fatigue.”

In addition to VO2 max, the second key characteristic is running “economy”, meaning the body must use oxygen efficiently.