The race is not to the swift
or the battle to the strong,
nor does food come to the wise
or wealth to the brilliant
or favor to the learned;
but time and chance happen to them all.
- Ecclesiastes 9:11
How about men’s records? The winning time for the 1896 Olympic Marathon was set by Spiridon Louis of Greece at 2:58:50; in 1908 London Olympics, John Hayes of the USA won with a time of 2:55:18. It’s not until 1925 that a sub-2:30 marathon is won in New York by US’s Albert Michelsen. Then, not until 1963 when USA’s Leonard Edelen will break the 2:15 marker with a time of 2:14:28. Four years later on Dec. 3, 1967, Australian Derek Clayton won the marathon in a world record time of 2:09:36, becoming the first man to run a marathon at a faster pace than 5 minutes/mile. 2003 saw the first man to break the 2:05 mark. Paul Tergat of Kenya won the Berlin Marathon with a time of 2:04:55. 2008 saw the record lowered to 2:03:59 by Haile Gerbrselassie of Ethopia. The question is not will this be broken; merely when? How long will it be before a man breaks a sub 2 hour marathon?
Before 1966, it was generally believed that women were physiologically unable to run marathon distances. The longest Amateur Athletic Union (AAU)-sanctioned race for women was one and a half miles. Yet on April 19, 1966, a young women name Roberta ‘Bobbi’ Gibb challenged the status quo of the then male dominated sport of marathon racing. Read her own words at: http://www.runningpast.com/gibb_story.htm She was denied an official entry in the race for the above AAU reasons. Undaunted, she donned her brother’s bermuda shorts and wore a blue hooded sweatshirt, and then jumped midway into the throng of runners as an unauthorized runner. As the May 2, 1966 Sports Illustrated magazine (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/) reported, she finished “fast enough to finish ahead of no fewer than 290 of the event’s 415 starters.” She would return in 1967 and 1968. On February 28, 1970, Caroline Walker, age 16, set a new world record for women of 3:02:53. Other women followed in her path. In 1978, Greta Waitz of Norway set a world record at the New York Marathon with a time of 2:32:30. Although she vowed never to run another marathon, she returned in 1979 to break her own record with a time of 2:27:33. She would win the NY Marathon seven more times. Joan Benoit of the USA won the Boston Marathon in 1985 with world record of 2:22:43 beating the second place finisher by seven mnutes. It would be Naoko Takahashi of Japan at the Berlin Marathon in 2001 to break the 2:20 mark at 2:19:46. Paula Radcliffe of Great Britain is the current world record holder at 2:15:25 set in 2003 at the London Marathon. How long will it be before a woman breaks a sub 2:15 hour marathon?
One last statistic: The 2009 average marathon finisher in my age category ‘55 – 59’ (I’m 56!) is 4:40:27 and composes 3.62% of all marathon runners. Please keep praying that I will remain uninjured as we come into the final month of training. With God's help, I will finish strong.
I am grateful for completing a 20 mile run!
I am grateful for the blessing of a Godly wife!
I am grateful for the grace God shows me daily!
I am grateful for the talents God has gifted my nieces and nephews!
I am grateful for the students in World History!
