We Noticed: The Sub-2 Hour Marathon is Here, Lucy Charles-Barclay is Back, Canyons by UTMB, and More
So how many more sub-two hour marathons can we expect later this year? Probably not as many as you might think. For years I would have told you that after Roger Bannister (GBR) ran his 3:59.4 mile on May 6, 1954, the floodgates opened and lots of sub-4 minute miles happened. (Am I the only one who feels like they’ve heard that said many times?) Ultimately there were, but it didn’t happen as quickly as I’d previously thought. Australia’s John Landy broke Bannister’s record 46 days after the Brit set the mark, running 3:57.9 on June 21. Later that summer Bannister would outkick Landy to take the Commonwealth Games mile (3:58.8 to 3:59.6). The following year three men would run under four minutes, and over the three years after Bannister’s big day there were 15 men who managed under four minutes for the mile.
The first sub-two hour marathon was run by Eliud Kipchoge (1:59:40) in Vienna, Austria in 2019, but that was in an unofficial race that featured a flat, looped course and 41 different pacemakers. That was almost seven years ago – so Kipchoge’s achievement didn’t exactly spark a revolution. (I know, the pandemic didn’t help matters.)
I guess what I’m saying is that while Kenya’s Sabastian Sawe’s 1:59:30 and Yomif Kejelcha’s 1:59:41 are incredible times, we might not see a raft of sub-twos over the next little bit. Part of that comes down to conditions – the word is things were picture perfect in London on the weekend (13C/ 55F at the start and only up to 16C/ 60F at the finish). Part of it comes down to the pacing corps – organizers pay huge amounts of money to put together both the right level of competition and the fastest pacers to set up fast times. There’s not a lot of marathon events that can afford that outlay. (I once had an official from a marathon explain to me how they could “afford” a 2:05 field, but didn’t have the money for a 2:02 race.)
Finally, we might also have to wait for more brands to catch up on the super-shoe front. While Nike brought on the carbon-plate revolution that has seen 11 marathon world records since 2017 (Sawe and women’s winner Tigst Assefa both set world records in London on the weekend), three of the six podium finishers from London (including both winners and Kejelca) were wearing the latest speedster from Adidas – the Adizero Adios Pro Evo 3s. This latest shoe from Adidas keeps the plush foam and impressive energy return, but drops the weight from previous models (30 percent lighter to just 97 g).
Obviously the guys running a 17-second 100 m, then repeating that 421 more times, are incredible athletes who would run a fast marathon in pretty much any shoe. But, as we’re seeing in full-distance triathlon races, where 2:30ish marathons are happening more and more for the men, with women running high 2:30s and low 2:40s on a regular basis, shoe technology is making a big difference. Once again, these are all incredible athletes – they’re just using the tech to take them to new levels.
Speaking of Pacing
Olympic triathlon gold medalist Alex Yee continued his marathon spree, this time doing pacing duties for some of his countrymen at the London Marathon. Yee managed to help a couple of guys move ahead of his own 2:06:38 on the all-time British marathon list – heading into Sunday’s race he was sitting as second all time behind Mo Farah (2:05:11). Yee paced the crew through 21.1 km in 63:15, then kept things moving until the 28-km point. After than Mahamed Mahamed (2:06:14) and Patrick Dever (2:06:18) managed to beat Yee’s time from Valencia.
Vilaça and Potter tops in Samarkand
With Yee and last year’s World Triathlon Championship Series (WTCS) overall champ, Matt Hauser, missing, Portugal’s Vasco Vilaça sprinted to his first WTCS win, outrunning Germany’s Henry Graf and Canadian Charles Paquet for the win.
France’s Cassandre Beaugrand, the 2024 Olympic gold medalist, pulled out of the race ahead of time due to illness, which opened the door for another speedy runner to take the win. Beth Potter represented Great Britain at the 2016 Rio Games in the 10,000 m, so it hardly comes as a surprise that she would use the day’s fastest 10 km (33:36) to run her way to the win over France’s Leonie Periault and Luxembourg’s Jeanne Lehair. Brit Georgia Taylor-Brown seemed to have been using her long-distance chops as she broke away from the pack on the bike, but would eventually be caught by the podium finishers and have to “settle” with fourth, while American Taylor Spivey took fifth.
You can see full results from the weekend’s racing here.
Canyons Endurance Runs by UTMB
There were over 1,800 runners on hand for this weekend’s Canyons Endurance Runs by UTMB in Auburn, California. The weekend included 25, 50 and 100K runs, along with a 100-miler. The course includes parts of the Western States Trail. In the 100-mile race three of the top-five finishers were women.
Here’s how the media folks at UTMB recapped the various races:
On Friday’s 100-mile course from China Wall to downtown Auburn, Noa Ohms (GER) won the men’s race in 17:50:12, followed by José Varcasia (ITA) in 20:20:15 and Jhonathan Castano (COL) in 20:49:42. In the women’s race, Aroa Sio (ESP) took the win in 19:24:34, ahead of Amanda Basham (USA) in 20:16:26 and Genevieve Harrison (USA) in 20:49:42.
Saturday’s 100K delivered one of the most competitive races of the weekend, with Adam Peterman (USA) winning in 8:18:47, Zach Miller (USA) second in 8:21:05, and Hayden Hawks (USA) third in 8:23:28. All three accepted their Golden Tickets. In the women’s race, Riley Brady (USA) won the women’s 100K in 9:41:09, followed by Careth Arnold (USA) in 9:56:36 and Sarah Allaben (USA) in 10:14:58. Arnold declined the golden ticket, which bumped up Sarah Allaben to the second Golden Ticket spot, with fourth place finisher Sarah Humble ultimately accepting the third Golden Ticket.
In the 50K, Matt Daniels (USA) led the men in 3:21:56, with Jupiter Carera Casas (MEX) second in 3:34:32 and Ryan Forsyth (IRL) third in 3:35:36. Makena Morley (USA) won the women’s race in 3:47:14, followed by Lauren Gregory (USA) in 3:51:28 and Molly Seidel (USA) in 4:07:03.
In the 25K, David Sinclair (USA) won in 1:36:51, followed by Ares Reading (USA) in 1:37:32 and Gus Gibbs (USA) in 1:44:11. Alice Baquie (AUS) topped the women’s field in 2:12:58, with Grace Eversaul (USA) second in 2:13:43 and Aubrey Roberts (USA) third in 2:17:57.
You can check out the full results list here.
She’s Back!
Club La Santa might be gearing up for its last time hosting IRONMAN Lanzarote, but it will no-doubt continue to put on the Volcano Triathlon for years to come. The Olympic-distance race held at the popular resort is the oldest triathlon in Spain, and routinely manages to attract some big names. This year was no different, with a couple of Club La Santa ambassadors leading the way in the women’s race – reigning IRONMAN 70.3 world champion Lucy Charles-Barclay and former IRONMAN world champ Anne Haug. (Yes, we thought she’d retired, too.)
Charles-Barclay had surgery this winter to have her plantaris tendon removed, so we haven’t seen her doing much racing other than in the pool. As she noted after the race – “Today I did another 1500m swim… followed by my actual job.”
According to Haug’s social media, she did “two panic-swim-sessions before the race to see if she would need armbands.” That was hardly the case – while Charles-Barclay had the day’s fastest swim (men or women – 18:47), Haug hung in with a 23-minute effort, then was only eight-seconds slower than the Brit on the bike and managed to run almost three minutes faster. Lydia Dant rounded out the podium, with Slowtwitch’s own Sarah Bonner taking fourth.
| Pos | Athlete | Country | Swim | Bike | Run | Overall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lucy Charles-Barclay | GBR | 18:47 | 1:04:13 | 37:13 | 2:04:18 |
| 2 | Anne Haug | GER | 23:00 | 1:04:21 | 34:29 | 2:05:53 |
| 3 | Lydia Dant | GBR | 23:13 | 1:07:44 | 38:23 | 2:14:16 |
| 4 | Sarah Kim Bonner | CAN | 23:19 | 1:09:02 | 38:44 | 2:15:50 |
| 5 | Mia Elizabeth Leadbeater King | ESP | 21:48 | 1:15:58 | 38:19 | 2:20:06 |
For the men it was Belgian Dieter Cochair who led the way, using a speedy bike ride to pull clear of Denmark’s Daniel Bækkegård and then hold on for a 65-second victory. Rounding out the podium was another Belgian, Laurens Verluyten.
| Pos | Athlete | Country | Swim | Bike | Run | Overall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dieter Comhair | BEL | 19:57 | 56:56 | 32:11 | 1:52:53 |
| 2 | Daniel Bækkegård | DEN | 20:14 | 58:42 | 31:02 | 1:53:58 |
| 3 | Laurens Verluyten | BEL | 20:44 | 58:25 | 32:34 | 1:55:29 |
| 4 | Marin Lerche | FRA | 21:43 | 59:05 | 33:17 | 1:59:01 |
| 5 | Sybren Baelde | BEL | 20:03 | 1:01:32 | 34:24 | 2:00:09 |
Laura Philipp Hospitalized
We sure hope that she bounces back soon and she assures us not to worry, but it was sad to see the news from 2024 IRONMAN world champion Laura Philipp that “instead of kicking off my new year with lots of training in the beautiful mountains as planned, some very strong stomach and back pain forced me to spend the last few days in the hospital.”
We’ll have to see if this setback affects her race plans at all this summer, which we assume include IRONMAN Hamburg and Challenge Roth.
The message goes on to say that Philipp is feeling much better and is able to eat and drink again, so hopes to be back in action soon. We hope the same!
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