Countdown to the first sub2hr marathon

It is no longer a matter of if but when…Kenya's Dennis Kimetto broke the marathon world record in Berlin on the 28 September 2014, winning the race in a time of two hours, two minutes and 57 seconds. While some consider we are generations away from witnessing a sub two hour marathon, the sub2hr project team believe they can achieve this feat within five years by applying a dedicated scientific approach.

The sub2hr project is the first dedicated international research initiative made up of specialist multidisciplinary scientists from academia, elite athletes and strategic industry partners (e.g. Global Sports Communication, Nijmegen, The Netherlands); all partners have at least 10 years of experience working in elite sport (including breaking marathon world records) and the participating scientists are opinion leaders in their respective fields.

Professor Yannis Pitsiladis, who leads the sub2hr project, was the founding member of the International Centre for East African Running Science (ICEARS) set up over a decade ago to investigate the determinants of the phenomenal success of east African distance runners in international athletics.

Further information available on the Sub 2hr project website

Listen to Professor Yannis Pitsiladis being interviewed about this on The Body Sphere programme which aired in Australia on Saturday 15 August 2015 at 1pm and on ABC Radio National.

Project timeframes

The project began in 2014 and is ongoing.

Project aims

The sub2hr project, as initially conceived, will comprise three main project phases:

a development phase (first 12 months) will involve setting up the global consortium, advertising the ambitious objectives and securing the necessary sponsorship to initiate the project;
an implementation phase (years 2-5) aimed at establishing the project and achieving the 1:59:59 objective
a legacy phase (e.g. to serve as a model for future sporting success).

Project launch event

The sub2hr project was launched on the 17 December 2014 to coincide with a specialist Colloquium organised by Professor Ron Maughan at the International Sports and Exercise Nutrition Conference (www.isenc.org) held in Newcastle, England entitled “What will it take to run a 2-hour marathon?” Stakeholders with potential interest in collaborating with the sub2hr project consortium were invited to attend this special event. The Colloquium programme included:

The right genes - Yannis Pitsiladis (UK)
The right training - Andy Jones (UK)
The right diet - Asker Jeukendrup (US)
The right athlete - Haile Gebreselassie (Ethiopia)

For further information please contact Professor Yannis Pitsiladis

Vodafone joins the Sub2hr project

Vodafone has added its expertise to the Sub2hr project to join the specialist scientists, the world’s best marathon runners, and other industry partners to help achieve the 1:59:59 objective.

Engineers from Vodafone Group’s Networks Centre of Excellence team have developed an innovative SUB2 mobile application that serves as a ‘hub’ to aggregate a range of data feeds to assist runners and their support team.

Vodafone-sub2hr

(l-r) Professor Yannis Pitsiladis, Kyriakos Exadaktylos and Mersha Asrat Woldemeskel, Kenenisa’s coach examine performance data collected by the Vodafone.SUB2 app.Credit: Kurat Pictures Plc

Project findings and impact

Since the launch of Sub2 marathon project in late 2014, the focus has been on the development phase - setting up the global consortium, advertising the ambitious objectives and securing the necessary sponsorship to initiate the project. As such, numerous presentations and a number of large project bid defences have occurred internationally and Sub2 remain in advanced discussions with at least three potential sponsors.

While these negotiations are on going and positive outcomes expected soon, the project focus shifts to the implementation phase which is aimed at establishing the project and achieving the 1:59:59 objective. For this phase of the project, Sub2 project centres are being set up in Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) and Eldoret (Kenya) and the first key athletes are being recruited and signed up to run under the contractual obligations of Sub2 that includes agreeing to the WADA+ anti-doping programme (see Anti-doping deliverable on the project website).

It is anticipated that the first athletes will run under the Sub2 banner in 2016. In the meantime, a high profile publicity campaign is on going to advertise the start of the implementation phase of the project to help gain further support for this innovative and legacy generating project (e.g. a New York Times three series feature to be published in April 2016). At the same time, some progress is being made in the areas of next generation anti-doping tests, 'intelligent' training methods using 'omics' technologies, real time performance management systems, optimal training and performance nutrition, and novel training and racing footwear designs.

Further advances in the project will necessitate greater funding success and the Sub2 project consortium anticipates securing at least one major sponsor in 2016. Progress and ultimately success of this anti-doping legacy project is vital given the on going doping crisis facing athletics (and sport in general) and therefore an urgent need for an alternative to the status quo.

Project team

Professor Yannis Pitsiladis

Output

Telegraph article

El Pais article and document (PDF) both in Spanish

Athletics Weekly article on the Sub2hr marathon launch event

BBC World Service Sportshour on the Sub2hr project interview with Professor Yannis Pitsiladis (1.06m - 7.50m)

Herald Scotland article

New York Times article - Man vs Marathon Part 1

New York Times article - Man vs Marathon Part 2

L'Equipe - Kenenisa Bekele uses a miracle drink developed by SUB2 (in French)

Vodafone joins the sub2hr project