Tuesday, September 30, 2008

World Record Marathon

Haile Gebrselassie (Ethiopia) broke his own world record by 27 seconds and became the first human ever to run under 2 hr 4 min for a marathon. He did it in 2.03.59. Yep, one second.

I thought this might be a good time for a lesson in the speed of world class marathoners. Geb ran 4.43 per mile pace for 26.2 miles. I don't know if you know how fast you can run ONE mile. I am pretty fast by recreational runner standards (I can probably run 5.15 for a mile), but I certainly can't run this fast for ONE mile.

This little experiment will give you some idea. Go to a local track. SPRINT for 200 meters (just half a lap on the track). If you can't do it in 35.3 seconds (and most people can't!), then you know what pace Geb ran...FOR 26.2 MILES!

Amazing.

1 comment:

JonathanMarathonMan said...

Amazing time.... I am just trying to get my numbers up to 100 marathons, I'm at 61 and counting. Good luck in your running !
JC
www.jonathanrunsalot.blogspot.com