Man or Machine?

Niall-Lee
Feb 17, 2020
2 min read

26.2 miles

1 hour, 59 minutes, 40 seconds

41 pacemakers

1 electric car

1 pair of Nike ZoomX Vaporfly Next%

1 World Record

These are the mind-boggling numbers behind Eliud Kipchoge’s Vienna Marathon. For your average Joe these numbers may be meaningless. But that is simply because for most, the thought of running a marathon is nothing more than a drunken new years resolution that will never progress further than a jog around the block.

To put things into comprehensible terms, here are some alternative breakdowns of Kipchoge’s run:

You may well have seen Chariots of Fire, the Hugh Hudson classic depicting Eric Liddel’s endeavour to achieve the impossible task of a four minute mile:

→ Kipchoge ran at a pace of 4:35 a mile, for 26.2 miles

How do you fancy your odds of running a 17.02 100m sprint?

→ Now imagine running that 422 times in a row...without stopping

The Average English person walks 181 miles in a year (walks not runs) (Donnelly, 2016)

→ Kipchoge was running 140 miles a week in preparation for his record attempt (Calvert, 2019)

So the question is, why is Kipchoge’s superhuman effort being discredited by the sport’s governing bodies?

Kipchoge’s record attempt was not deemed valid due to the performance enhancement brought about by his pacemaking team and controversial new Nike trainers. For those thinking the new Nike Next% shoes are their chance to avenge their school ground race defeats, I have some disappointing news; Nike claim their shoes to improve an athletes running economy by 4-5%, or in other words they will use 4-5% less oxygen to obtain any given speed (Roe, 2019). Furthermore, the shoes have been banned from competition due to the ‘unfair’ advantage they offer. This ruling sparked massive controversy, not only amongst the running community but in the entire sphere of sport. Questions arose about the influence of technology on sporting advancements;

How do we differentiate between athletic prowess and technological improvements?

Some inherently disagree with the ever-increasing role of technology in sport, maintaining that it offers an unfair advantage to athletes over past athletes and those who can not afford to make use of the technology. Conversely, some see the modern sporting world as a shining example of human innovation and enjoy seeing the limits of human capability pushed further and further:

The chart below illustrates the trend in Marathon World Record Times. The trend seems to suggest a plateau in record times, however, Kipchoge’s sub two hour marathon could kick start another downward slope as a result of technological progression (BD Sports, 2019).