Many people will wonder why two hours should be the goal of the marathon challenge. Is it just to round up an integer?
In fact, this goal has a certain research foundation. In a paper published in 199 1, Mike Joyner, a performance physiologist, theoretically speculated that the fastest time for humans to complete the 26.2-mile marathon could reach 1 hour 57 minutes and 58 seconds.
So far, the human marathon record has exceeded 2 hours. After learning the theoretical potential of human physical fitness, 2 hours became the immediate breakthrough goal.
Although many scholars and athletes are not optimistic about this possibility, experts predict that mankind will not break through the bottleneck of running a complete horse in two hours until at least 2075.
1954, Roger Bannister became the first man to successfully run a mile in 4 minutes with a time of 3 minutes and 59.4 seconds. His success not only broke the limit of human physical fitness, but also inspired other athletes to some extent.
Before that, the speed of 4 minutes/mile was considered as an insurmountable achievement, but in bannister's record-breaking year, 37 athletes broke the bottleneck of 4 minutes.
Sixty-three years later, Nike recruited three outstanding athletes and a large number of scientists. Of course, Zoom Vaporfly Elite, a sports shoe tailored for each athlete, aims to help athletes run the whole horse in two hours and challenge them to complete the whole marathon in two hours at the Formula One circuit in Monza, Italy.
In order to challenge the human limit, Nike created the best environment and the strongest running shoes.
As an experimental competition that breaks through the limits of human sports, Nike has created the best environment for this competition and the strongest running shoes it can provide.
Among them, eliud kipchoge, the highly anticipated marathon champion of Rio Olympic Games, finished the whole race in 2 hours and 25 seconds. Although there are still 26 seconds to break the 2-hour mark, it is still 2 minutes faster than the current marathon world record of 2 hours, 2 minutes and 57 seconds, setting the best marathon result.
Even so, because the rules and conditions of this competition do not meet the requirements of the official competition, Chipchog's performance will not be recorded in the world record, but this does not weaken its importance.
Nike's attempt this time, although it did not achieve the expected goal, is the closest attempt to the goal so far. It may also inspire and lead the breakthrough of athletes all over the world, just as bannister inspired other athletes 63 years ago.
I would like to remind everyone that although the marathon is hot recently, we still have to do what we can. After all, not everyone is suitable for running a marathon. In recent years, sudden death due to marathon has occurred from time to time.
As for running for two hours, let's leave it to professional athletes.
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