This was just after Eliud Kipchoge had done so during the sub two-hour experiment and Brigid Kosgei had run 2 hours 14 mins for a marathon. At the time I also remember several remarks after the column was posted on to social media.
Well, here we are just four years later, and we now have a new ladies world record of 2 hours 11 mins and 53 secs after Ethiopia’s Tigist Assefa’s amazing run in the Berlin Marathon last Sunday.
Whilst it is still just under 12 minutes away and as yet no other man has gone under two hours, I am still confident that a woman will be very close to the two-hour mark if not having gone under it within the next 21 years.
Up until December 1967, she would have held the outright world record.
Having seen lots of articles, comments, and posts throughout both the media and social media this week expressing amazement and even disbelief in some quarters, once again it is the footwear saga which raises its head.
Nevertheless, Tigist is a fantastic athlete, and it was an amazing performance which no one can argue with; mind-blowing to put it bluntly.
However, she openly said beforehand that she was excited and looking forward to racing in her new Adidas Adizero Adios Pro Evo 1 shoes and made comment to them after finishing too.
Perfect timing, for the brand with what I believe is the release of them this week at a cost of around £400.
At the end of the day though she is sponsored by Adidas, and she is not the first person to praise a brand who they are supported by and the footwear on their feet.
When all is said and done all this carbon plated stuff started via Nike for which it was obvious that the other brands were going to follow suit.
As to whose footwear is the best, I don’t know or if I am honest, I don’t really care.
What I do know is that carbon plated shoes give an advantage performance wise. This has been proved with the large number of records and PBs being smashed across most distances during the last few years.
As for the cost to the consumer, I am not sure who are the biggest winners.
People will spend the money and I know I would have too back in the day. Even if it was just to reduce a PB by a few seconds.
When trying to justify the price of these shoes i.e. all the technology which goes with them – I don’t believe it.
Some of the bigger brands don’t even supply the independents anymore preferring to sell direct for an even bigger margin and mark up. Whilst these specific type shoes will benefit those looking for race time improvements, the brands also know which athletes to put in their shoes with regards to who can do the job to match the marketing which goes with them.
I ran in the Berlin marathon in 1985 and 1986 finishing 21st both times in 2 hours 19 mins and 07 secs and 2 hours 17 mins and 35 secs. The winners of those races were Jimmy Ashworth in a course record time of 2:11:43 and Boguslaw Psujek also in a course record of 2:11:03. In both cases just marginally quicker than Tigist Assefa’s finishing time last Sunday. Incidentally, the women’s winners back in ‘85 and ‘86 were Magda Ilands (Belgium) in 2:34:10 and Charlotte Tesk West Germany 2:32:10. Both women’s course records at the time.
As it happens, the men’s winner during the following two years Suleiman Nyambui from Tanzania also finished in 2 hours 11 mins before his countryman Alfredo Shahanga in 1989 became the first person to go under 2:11:00 when winning the race in 2 hours 10 mins and 11 secs. The lady’s winner was Paivi Tikkanen in 2:28:45.
Whilst some may still argue that my prediction of a lady running sub two hours within what is now the next two decades is way off the mark, I am very confident in what is my next suggestion/bet and that is it won’t be too long before a running shoe appears on the market priced at £1,000. With the ‘very latest technology’ of course!
As to where it will all end, who knows? There will always be advancements in human performance and technologies. From an athletics point of view though, let’s just hope the boundaries aren’t pushed beyond where it is the technology which takes over from the human performance which we see in some other sports.
As said before in my columns – if only a race could be organised where all the very best athletes had to compete in footwear which resembled that of 30 plus years ago. That way we would then see just how much of a difference today’s highly sophisticated race shoes make.
All of this is a long way from Tigist’s fellow Ethiopian countryman Abebe Bikila who won the Rome Olympic marathon gold medal in 1960 in what was back then a world record time of 2 hours 15 mins and 16 secs. However, whilst running barefooted for which it is still a world best mark to this very day. Abebe also went on to win gold four years later at the Tokyo Olympic Games but this time wearing shoes albeit very basic in a W/R time of 2:12:11.
Before finishing, I must just say all the very best to Ian Thomas who will be taking part in his 9th 153-mile Spartathlon race in Greece this weekend whilst also saying a huge thank you to every single person who played a part, be it big or small, in this year’s Sportlink Road Racing Grand Prix Series.
Last Sunday’s 14th and final race, the BVH 10, was a great way to wrap it all up for which we can now look forward to the awards evening in Norwich on Friday, November 17.
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