Rich Stein (he/him)

Each of these runners should be mentioned. Incredible performances by all —

Sebastian Sawe and Yomif Kejelcha both broke the two-hour barrier and men's World Record as they finished one-two at the London Marathon today, while Tigst Assefa set a new women’s-only record as she successfully defended her London Marathon title.
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/live/2026/apr/26/london-marathon-2026-live-updates

"Ethiopia's Assefa breaks own world record at London Marathon"
https://www.reuters.com/sports/ethiopias-assefa-breaks-own-world-record-london-marathon-2026-04-26/
#running #LondonMarathon #marathon #sports #WorldRecord

London Marathon 2026: Sabastian Sawe breaks two-hour barrier and world record – live updates

Join Yara El-Shaboury for updates as Kenya’s Sabastian Sawe breaks the two-hour barrier and Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa retains her crown

the Guardian
Apr 26 at 2:22pmMastodon for Android
Show threadRich Stein (he/him)Apr 27

Would far prefer reading about this past weekend's incredible world record marathon performance by Kenyan Sabastian Sawe in London and a model designed to estimate the limits of human performance — how fast can they go? — than idle speculation by pundits as to what will happen next re. Iran — so here you go:

"Kenya’s Sawe breaks the 2-hour barrier: what’s next for the men’s marathon world record?"
https://theconversation.com/kenyas-sawe-breaks-the-2-hour-barrier-whats-next-for-the-mens-marathon-world-record-281568
#running #marathon #sports #WorldRecord #StatisticalModel 1/

Kenya’s Sawe breaks the 2-hour barrier: what’s next for the men’s marathon world record?

The statistical arc of human endeavour in the marathon keeps bending upwards. There is still much to be inspired by.

The Conversation
Show threadRich Stein (he/him)Apr 28

From PubMed (2019): "A Statistical Timetable for the Sub-2-Hour Marathon" https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30817713/ Also check out the citations and links. Full text: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6613719/

Link to the full study and dataset from European PMC server — this is the 2019 version. There is substantial data that would have to be appended to update the model's predictive accuracy.
https://europepmc.org/article/MED/30817713
#running #marathon #sports #WorldRecord #StatisticalModel

A Statistical Timetable for the Sub-2-Hour Marathon - PubMed

The study is the first to address all three related aspects of world record marathon performance (sub-2 h, limits, gender equivalence) in a single, unified modeling framework and provides many avenues for further exploration and insight.

PubMed
Show threadRich Stein (he/him)Apr 28

Here is the 2019 article(same article; getting lots of mileage from it 😁 ) from the America College of Sports Medicine publication "Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise": https://journals.lww.com/acsm-msse/fulltext/2019/07000/a_statistical_timetable_for_the_sub_2_hour.14.aspx

That link is cited in this detailed, extended Monash U. news story (2019): https://www.monash.edu/news/articles/stopwatch-set-for-milestone-marathon-in-2032

Anyway, it's an interesting study. I am curious about any update to the limits of performance model as a result of Sawe's epic sub 2-hour run the other day. If you care to email: [email protected]

Show threadRich Stein (he/him)Apr 28

Last excerpt from 2019 article:

"Using the same economic model and 10% likelihood approach, Dr Angus calculated that the likely human performance limit for male and female marathon times is 1:58.05 (performance gap to current world record of 2.9%) and 2:05.31 (performance gap of 8.6%) respectively."

Let's not forget Tigst Assefa of Ethiopia's women's WR: 2:15:41 — works out to ~5:10 per mile.
https://creators.yahoo.com/lifestyle/story/london-marathon-turns-into-record-breaking-showcase-as-tigst-assefa-rewrites-history-again-185925616.html
#running #marathon #sports #WorldRecord #LondonMarathon #WomensOpportunitie

London Marathon Turns Into Record-Breaking Showcase as Tigst Assefa Rewrites History Again

Tigst Assefa shatters her own world record as London Marathon delivers a weekend of historic runs and moments

Yahoo