Faster, Further, Stronger

What is making a modern athlete finish a marathon faster? Nutrition, technology or mindset?

26.2 miles. This distance and this test of

endurance have been officially the same since

1908, but the history of the event stretches as

far back as 1896 when the modern Olympics

began. The origins stretch back even further

with Pheidippides, who ran from the

Battle of Marathon to Athens- according

to legend. But since then, the speed and

ability of a marathon runner have changed

dramatically since all those years ago. This

raises an intriguing debate concerning

whether running shoe technology is the

main factor for such dramatic improvement,

whether the cultivated and rigorously tested

understanding of nutrition and sleep has

further enhanced this evolution, or even after

all this time is the mindset of the runner still

at the forefront of being able to complete

the gruelling 26.2 miles? Some evidence

suggests that for the top athletes, these

minute changes in technology and nutrition

continue to give a greater edge, but is this

impact slowly trickling down to the standard

marathon runner?

It is clear to see, even looking back 30-40

years ago at runners in the late 1980s and

early 1990s how rudimentary their shoe

technology and nutrition seem to be. Yet

even though this may be the case, the

average finish times do suggest that they

were completing the distance quicker.

For instance, taking Matthew Parris as

an example- the fastest marathoner who

was also an MP- crossed the 1985 London

marathon finish line with a time of 2:32:57

which placed him 385th out of 20,000.

Compared to London 2023 he would have

finished 212th out of 48,000; a stark statistic

that argues that Parris would be better today

than 30 years ago. But even with this, you

must look past just the finishing times.

Nutrition

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Nick Harris-Fry, co-founder of The Run

Testers and senior writer at Coach argues

that “everyone has gotten massively

better” in terms of their nutritional

intake and this is what is helping them

cross the line better and to do so more

efficiently. Lots of lessons have been

learned when considering what rate our

bodies can intake carbs and reduce the

quantity a runner expends. He states

that it is inevitable people are going to

bonk- hitting the wall and not wanting

to continue- but nutrition has helped

to drastically reduce this and push it

further back in a race. Unlike today, it

wasn’t uncommon for people to not

have carried

anything with

them during

the race and

instead they

“just grabbed

a cola on

the way or

something.”

This subsequently

correlates with the growth in the

percentage of those who crossed the

finish line, back in 1981, only 88.6% of

those who entered the London Marathon

finished it, compared to a record 98.7%

in 2015.

Technology

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Yet, this argument suggests that if you

are prepared enough nutritionally,

getting across the line should be

relatively easy, but this belief negates

the idea of the significant number of

hours of training that goes on before

the starting pistol. Without knowing

whether you are overtraining and

exerting too much strain on your body

is vitally important in building up both

physical endurance as well as aerobic

respiration. This is where the benefit

of wearable technology such as Garmin

watches, Whoop bands, and other

fitness trackers helps an amateur runner

to work at their best. The increased

use of wearable technology is seen

to be much more beneficial for those

who are not competing competitively,

Kieran Sheridan a board-certified

physiotherapist argues that “exercise

and diet alone, without proper help and

fitness statistics” may leave the runner

lacking in the competent knowledge to

them succeed to their best. Unlike those

who are competing at a professional

level, who have teams of professionals

who will monitor their data for them, the

typical recreational runner doesn’t have

access to all this data. This therefore

highlights the benefits of wearables,

using a watch or band they gain access to

all different metrics such as their heart

rate variability (HRV) their Vo2 Max, as

well as their blood oxygen level which

all play a vital role in understanding how

far a person should push themselves on

each given day. Metrics which was once

reserved for only professional athletes

are now available to a larger field and

have significantly helped all runners

to understand when they are pushing

too hard, suggesting that, although the

finishing times may be getting slower,

individuals have not beaten up their

bodies as much as they did previously

meaning they can race again relatively

soon after.

Furthermore,

not only be able

to run soon

after but also

to run greater

distances. A high

determinator of

how healthy a

person can be is

the distance they

can go, a study

by RunRepeat

highlights an

increase of 1676%

in participation in

ultramarathons

over the last 23 years, showing that although the

average marathon speed may be slowing

down, participants have a greater

understanding of their nutrition to want

to push themselves further.

Mindset

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Notwithstanding all this change,

however, is the fact that no matter

how good their recovery is, or how

comfortable their shoes may be, they

still must battle to get across the finish

line at the end of the 26 miles. Inevitably

it will be your mindset, and the belief

in all the miles of training you have put

in beforehand that will give you the

confidence to cross that line. James

Ward, a sub 2:39 marathon runner and

videographer who has recently returned

from Africa, where he has been working

alongside Russ Cook, an extreme

ultrarunner who is currently attempting

to become the first man to run the entire

length of Africa, argues that the recovery

process has gotten significantly better,

“you only have to spend 10 minutes on

Instagram before you get an advert for

an ice bath” but at the end of the day,

the final battle is with the mind. In “a

black-and-white sense” Ward indicates

yes, there is evidence to suggest that

shoes can alone make a small difference

to a professional runner, quoting from a

recent article from the European Journal

of Applied Physiology concluding that

for 99 of the world-class elite runners,

a 1% increase in speed, which is equal

to about 79 seconds can be directly

correlated to the shoes in which the

individual is wearing. This may not seem

significant for the amateur runner, but

this is extremely significant for those

at the time. The sort of shoe is not what

runners should get bogged down by.

Ward states, that when he ran his 2:39

marathon he had only been running for

22 months, putting this achievement down to “falling in love with the

process” and becoming obsessed

with the idea. After reading and

researching everything there is to

know about completing a marathon in

this time, he said he doesn’t

understand it when people

ask him if he was surprised

to get that time, he put the

work in so why would he?

Whilst undergoing the training

he identified that what set

the elite athletes apart from

the rest was their ability to

visualise their success, for

example, Michael Jordan and

Wayne Rooney, both followed stoic

ideas in their prime to understand

how to put themselves in the best

mindset. But above all else, Ward states

that since running and working with

Cook in Africa, if you aren’t getting

any enjoyment out of the task, the

results will be meaningless. Seeing

Cook finish a 60km run to sit down

and sometimes- literally- eat

a baguette topped with tomato

ketchup, “he’s aware that like,

scientifically, that food

isn’t going to have

the major, healthy

properties” but given

the stress he is putting

his body under, eating a

more relaxed diet will help

him mentally. Showing that although

placing yourself under a strict diet can

help you reach a goal once, the ability to

enjoy the process will mean that you are

more likely to keep running and be more

likely to partake in marathons more

regularly than compared to years prior.

Consequently, although evidence

suggests average marathon runners

are slower, the ability to reach goals

in terms of speed is even more easily

achievable than before, and for those

who want to be fit enough to complete

multiple marathons a year, the increased

knowledge in sleep, nutrition and

technology will help to propel runners

remain in their prime for longer.