Analysis on the progression of men world marathon record

Aim: The first marathon run took place at Olympic Games in 1896 in Athens, but the first standardised measure of 42.129 m date back at the Olympic Games in 1908 in London. The world record passed from 2:55:18 of Johnny Hayes to the recently of Wilson Kiprotic of 2:03:23. Aim of this study was to analyse how the world record had improved through the years. Method: The 32 world record were evaluated for analyse their progression during the years. Then, the percentage distribution of the times of the top 100 athletes of the world rank was made on the basis of their country of origin. Finally, the 200 athletes in the word rank from 2011 to 2013 were evaluated for verifying if they fit in the classification proposed by Billat et al., 2001 and La Torre et al., 2011. Result: The world marathon record improved of 29.7% from 1908 to 2013, that divided into decades are: 1950-60, 7.12%; 1960-70, 4.96%; 1970-80, 0%; 1980-90, 1.14%; 1990-00, 0.89%; 2000-13: 1.84%. In particular 92% performances comes from Africa, of which 61% from Kenya. The remaining 8% is divided in: 3% Europe; 2% North America; 2% South America; 1% Oceania. Comparing the performances of the 200 athletes in the world rank we found that for Billat et al., 2001, in 2011 90% are top-class marathon runners (02:06:34-02:11:59) and 10% with a time lower of 02:06:34; in 2012 83% are top-class marathon runners and 17% with a time lower of 02:06:34; in 2013 90% are top-class marathon runners and 10% with a time lower of 02:06:34. On the other hand, for La Torre et al., 2011 in 2011, 2% are considered elite-class marathon runners (<02:05:10), 37.5% as top-class marathon runners (02:05:11-02:08:50), 36% as high-class marathon runners (02:08:51-02:10:10) and 24.5% as good-class marathon runners (02:10:11-02:11:10). In 2012 performances are considered 6.5% elite-class marathon runners, 51% top-class marathon runners, 35% high-class marathon runners and 7.5% good-class marathon runners. In 2013 4.5% are elite-class marathon runners, 38.5% top-class marathon runners, 37.5% high-class marathon runners and 19.5% good-class marathon runners. Conclusion: These results show a constant improvement of the men marathon world record. Thus, to be an elite athlete they have to perform under 2:05:10, but the trend in the coming years to reach the limit of two hours. References: Billat et al. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2001; 33(12):2089-97. La Torre et al. J Strength Cond Res. 2011;25(12):3242-7.