Abstract
The main goal of this study was to analyse the pacing strategies displayed by the winners of the six World Marathon Majors in order to determine which race offers the greatest potential for future world record attempts. For data analysis, the total distance of the marathon was divided into eight sections of 5 km and a final section of 2.195 km, and time needed to complete each section was calculated in seconds. When we analyzed the mean winning time in the last 13 editions of each of the World Marathon Majors, we observed differences between New York and London (ES = 1.46, moderate effect, p = 0.0030), New York and Berlin (ES = 0.95, small effect, p = 0.0001), London and Boston (ES = 0.08, small effect, p = 0.0001), Boston and Berlin (ES = 0.10, small effect, p = 0.0001), Boston and Chicago (ES = 0.16, small effect, p = 0.0361), Berlin and Tokyo (ES = 0.20, small effect, p = 0.0034), Berlin and Chicago (ES = 0.27, small effect, p = 0.0162). This study shows that Berlin and London are likely candidates for future world record attempts, whilst such a performance is unlikely in New York or Boston.
Highlights
The pacing strategy adopted during competition is crucial in determining marathon running performance (Abbiss and Laursen, 2008; Ely et al, 2008; March et al, 2011; Renfree and Gibson, 2013)
The main goal of this study was to analyse the pacing strategies displayed by the winners of the six World Marathon Majors in order to determine which race offers the greatest potential for future world record attempts
In the first 5 km section, New York was slower than Berlin (ES = 2.77, very large effect, p = 0.0001), London (ES = 3.36, very large effect, p = 0.0001), Tokyo (ES = 3.12, very large effect, p = 0.0001), Boston (ES = 2.06, very large effect, p = 0.0001), and Chicago (ES = 1.83, large effect, p = 0.0133)
Summary
The pacing strategy adopted during competition is crucial in determining marathon running performance (Abbiss and Laursen, 2008; Ely et al, 2008; March et al, 2011; Renfree and Gibson, 2013). Pacing, which has been described as the ability to use and distribute energy resources efficiently during athletic competition (Foster et al, 1993), aims to optimize the use of physiological reserves before the end of the race. This would help in avoiding premature fatigue (Skorski and Abbiss, 2017) and a subsequent reduction in speed before task completion (Foster et al, 2004; Hettinga et al, 2007; Tucker and Noakes, 2009). The world records have been achieved through progressively more consistent strategies than was the
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