The perfect MARATHON
Nike is setting the conditions in an attempt to see the two-hour barrier in the marathon fall
In 1954, Roger Bannister broke the fourminute mile barrier with three things: an ability to suffer, an unwavering belief it could be done and pacers — other men to take a turn at the front — a controversial innovation at the time.
Flash forward more than six decades and Nike is looking to the break the twohour marathon barrier this year with a couple of those same elements.
There’s a trio of the world’s fastest men who’ve proven they can suffer and a team of scientists, specialists and product engineers who believe it must be possible if they can turn enough elements — from the running shoe to the marathon course itself — to their favour.
Just how much of a departure Nike’s Breaking2 race may be from a regular marathon is where the controversy lies this time.
“To do extraordinary things you’ve got to try things outside the box,” says Bret Schoolmeester, Nike’s senior product director on the project.
There are critics who say Nike’s approach changes the spirit of running as an individual’s pursuit of excellence; and skeptics, who say it can’t be done; but most people following the project are just plain curious. Can a shoe company with enough resources essentially muscle their way to breaking one of the biggest barriers in sport decades before scientists have predicted it could happen through the normal course of human evolution?
The four-minute mile was once a barri- er that some argued man could never break and now even high school students do it. But that record fell in increments of seconds, while Nike is seeking to cut nearly three minutes off the 2:02:57 world record set in 2014 by Dennis Kimetto in a single leap.
So far, we know three things: who will make the record attempt, where they’ll run and what they’ll have on their feet.
Eliud Kipchoge, the Kenyan Olympic marathon champion, Zersenay Tadese, the Eritrean world half-marathon record holder and Lelisa Desisa, Ethiopia’s multiple winner of the Boston marathon, will race together on a yet undisclosed date this year.
They’ll run in a location used to incredible speed — the Grand Prix racetrack outside Monza, Italy — on a 2.4kilomtre loop, allowing easy access for the support team.
They’ll wear a shoe uniquely made for each of them, including: a new type of foam, two-thirds lighter than standard foam; more cushioning than a regular race shoe; and a full-length shaped carbon-fibre plate to reduce fatigue and minimize energy loss.
“The sensation runners have when they run in this plate is that they’re running downhill all the time,” Schoolmeester says.
Nike calls its Breaking2 initiative a “moonshot designed to unlock human potential,” and it may well do that, but it’s also, undoubtedly, about selling shoes.
So, even before the race has been run, Nike has unveiled that the massmarket version, called the Nike Zoom VaporFly 4%, goes on sale June 8 for $250 (U.S.).
According to a study Nike commissioned, the new shoe results in a four-per-cent efficiency gain over their current racing shoe and, factoring in studies that have translated runner efficiency into speed gains, it will make a runner three per cent faster, Schoolmeester says.
“That’s the difference between the current world record and the subtwo-hour marathon,” he says.
If these shoes really do translate into radically dropping race times, the next question will be whether the sport’s governing body sees fit to ban them.
But it’s a long way from results in a lab to success on the road over a gruelling 42.2 kilometres. That was brought home a week and a half ago at the Tokyo marathon when Wilson Kipsang set out to knock just seven seconds off the current world record and crossed the line one minute over it.
He was wearing his “revolutionary” Adidas adizero Sub2 (yes, they too have a sub-two-hour marathon project on the go) that the company says offers a two-per-cent improvement in running economy.
Nike staff may be thrilled with their new shoe but their multipronged approach shows they know it will take more than a shoe to give Kipchoge, Tadese and Desisa their best shot at running a sub-two hour marathon.
A team of experts is optimizing individual training and recovery plans, perfecting nutrition and hydration for race day, and creating the fastest possible race course and conditions for them to run in.
“Being able to pick the right time window, the right weather, the right course specifics, drafting, pacing strategies, all that is going to be a big factor in how we get there,” Schoolmeester says.
Creating their own race rather than running an established one has fueled speculation that Nike intends to alter rules, such as allowing fresh pacers on the course, which means that a sub-two — if it happens — might not be officially recognized by the international governing body, the IAAF.
“When we’re able to really tell everybody the details of the event, they’ll see there’s nothing crazy go- ing on, nefarious or even, you know, shady, and I think that will quiet some of that criticism,” Schoolmeester says.
Whatever race details they land on, Nike is giving three of the world’s best runners a shot at a perfect race day.
Regular marathons are run on days that are too hot and humid or too cold and windy, on courses with sharp turns and hills.
Pacers drop off long before the finish and drink bottles are routinely missed as runners’ race by crowded tables.
“To go that extra three minutes might not seem like a whole lot for you and I, but at that speed every second is a monumental achieve- ment,” says Greg Wells, an exercise physiologist at the University of Toronto.
At the limits of human endurance, everything has to go right to even have a chance to go faster.
“You can almost view this project like an F1 car racing team where you’ve got people on the tires, the fuel, the strategy and the coach and all sorts of other things that are happening,” Wells says.
“That’s what sport has become, it’s not just the athlete anymore — it’s a team.”
Reid Coolsaet, Canada’s fastest marathoner in decades, has long talked about how hard it is just to arrive at the start of a major marathon in peak physical condition and then, on top of that, hope to be blessed with excellent pacers and great running weather.
Kipchoge, Desisa and Tadese will be guaranteed those things Coolsaet hopes for and if they’re injured or not feeling well, this race can wait for them.
“Three minutes still sounds like a big jump to me,” Coolsaet says. “But I think (the attempt) is good. It brings more attention to the marathon and has people talking about what is possible.”