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posted by martyb on Monday October 13 2014, @12:55PM   Printer-friendly
from the probably-just-under-two-hours dept.

Alex Hutchinson writes at Runner's World that runners have cut the distance to the sub-two-hour marathon in half since 1998, but it will get progressively harder to trim the remaining seconds. Still, the physiologists tell us that it’s not impossible, meaning it is possible. Hutchinson says it will take several things: a cold day in March or November; a straight, flat course that is mind-numbingly boring; pacemakers who will shepherd leaders around the course cutting the wind and setting the pace; and a runner with a frame of about 5'6", weight of about 120 pounds, and towering self-confidence.

The road is so flat and straight, you can see them coming from a mile away. Six runners flow in arrowhead formation around the Canadian city of Saskatoon. The early November air is still and dry, the sky overcast, and the temperature hovers a bit above freezing, just as predicted. All in their early 20s, they’ve been training together for this moment for years; only in the last month did their coach select which three will go for the record. The remaining three form the front of the arrowhead, blocking the wind and enduring the mental effort of controlling the pace. Should one of them cross the finish line in two hours—or faster—all six will share equally in the $50 million jackpot promised by the heirs to the Hoka One One fortune. The pot of money is up for grabs, for any runner, anywhere in the world. The chase is on. So, will they make it? And what year is this?

I’m saying the year is...2075—and they make it.

 
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  • (Score: 2) by cafebabe on Monday October 13 2014, @01:46PM

    by cafebabe (894) on Monday October 13 2014, @01:46PM (#105544) Journal

    I'll take your four and I'll raise it. I'd be happy with a six hour marathon. I'm fit and healthy but I've previously walked five miles, arrived with an injured ankle and I had no idea how it occurred. If that happened at the beginning of a 26 mile walk, I'd be screwed.

    Working backwards, a six hour marathon requires an average speed of 4.3MPH. A four hour marathon requires an average speed of 6.5MPH. But a two hour marathon requires an average speed of 13MPH. That's insane! I'm certainly not at the level where one thinks nothing of a four mile run [bash.org] but I jog slower than that! And I stop after 10 minutes!

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 13 2014, @02:11PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 13 2014, @02:11PM (#105558)

    That link says it's at bash.org. Is that site safe to visit? Will my computer get a shellshock if I click on that link?

    • (Score: 2) by strattitarius on Monday October 13 2014, @04:20PM

      by strattitarius (3191) on Monday October 13 2014, @04:20PM (#105613) Journal

      Unfortunately, I have seen comments like that floating around the web and a few idiots that claim to be in IT helping spread the FUD.

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      Slashdot Beta Sucks. Soylent Alpha Rules. News at 11.
      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 13 2014, @04:25PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 13 2014, @04:25PM (#105615)

        It's no wonder normal people hate you sysadmins.

        First you tell your users that Linux and GNU software and bash are all really secure. Then a very serious bug is found in bash that makes it obvious that it's not secure at all.

        Then you tell your users to be cautious, and to ask you first before using any software that might be risky. So they do just that, asking you about something suspicious (the name "bash" is now forever linked with the concepts of bugs and insecurity), and you berate them for asking!

        Make up your mind, please! Don't tell users contradictory info!

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 13 2014, @07:54PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 13 2014, @07:54PM (#105689)

          Jesus christ. How dumb are you? He was addressing the question that the AC poster above asked which is clearly poking fun at bash.org. Oh, right you are a fucking troll too. Go die under a rock, troll.

          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 13 2014, @10:19PM

            by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 13 2014, @10:19PM (#105742)

            I see your one-week vacation didn't do you any good, Tork. You're still such an angry soul.

    • (Score: 2) by cafebabe on Monday October 13 2014, @06:54PM

      by cafebabe (894) on Monday October 13 2014, @06:54PM (#105673) Journal

      bash.org has humorous exchanges from chatlogs upvoted in the style of Reddit.

      The first joke, related to running, is as follows [bash.org]:-

      yetiamchosen: So the only part about this curse of recruiting potentials for the marine corps that isn't utterly miserable is fucking with the people that have already signed up. Now, we don't want to scare them off entirely, so we can't just sit there and be like, "You're going to die in bootcamp!" But we can be completely insane with each other in front of them, and let them draw that conclusion on their own. So we're told to take the poolees on a 1.5 mile run today. No staff nco's there, so we're like, "Fuckit. There's two recruits, there's eight of us ... four mile run." So we start running and I had just had a monster energy drink, the lo ball kind, which is red. That's a dumbass's recipe for disaster, but I really wanted one so I had one anyway. It dehydrates you, gives you cramps, and makes you puke. So we've been running like half a mile and without breaking pace I casually puke onto the side of the road, and keep running. Among marines this is normal behavior, so no one even says anything, but the recuruit is looking like, "Wtf, did that guy just puke without stopping?"
      geekryan: lol
      yetiamchosen: And he's like, "Dude! Are you alright!" I'm like, "KEEP RUNNING!" and I speed up a little bit, chuckling inside. And then it really hits me and I'm like, going full speed, just hurling all over the side of the road, wiping my mouth, running, hurling and he looks at the puke and he goes, "OH MY GOD ARE YOU PUKING BLOOD!"
      geekryan: HAHAHAHA
      yetiamchosen: And I go, "THAT'S NOT BLOOD IT'S CONFIDENCE AAAAGGGHHHHH!!!" And I just blast off like a little red streaming rocket ship. I look behind me and this kid seriously look like he's just about to piss his pants, like, "Oh my god, what the fuck have I gotten myself into?" I got up to the front and this marine looks at me and goes, "Were you really puking up blood?" I'm like, "No devil, it's monster," and he just laughs, he's like, "You're going to hell."
      yetiamchosen: That's it. I was chuckling inside all the way home.
      geekryan: that really is awesome
      geekryan: I can't imagine how freaked out that recruit was
      yetiamchosen: I hope he doesn't sleep well again until he gets to boot camp.

      And the bonus joke is as follows [bash.org]:-

      I mean, we started 2 nights before, recruiting strippers to show up
      things got out of hand, and we end up with 10 kegs, and who knows how many imported sluts
      I'm not talking tundra wookies
      I mean, decent-looking chicks
      they'd ranks a 6 or 7 here, but are fucking TEN in alaska
      party goes awesome
      don't catch any of the game
      we all pass out by about 3 am
      first call is at 6 am
      and being professional alcoholics, we rigged the central firealarm to go off 10 minutes before first call
      well, we all wake up to the fire alarm, clean the shithole up, then go down to PT formation
      just expecting a 10-mile detox run or something gay like that
      1SG says we're having a health and welfare inspection
      where he goes through everbody's room and fucks you up for anything that's out of place
      well... we had 10 empty kegs and a buncha passed out whores in our building...
      not to mention the little shit like bottle caps and whatnot
      thank GOD he went to consolidated barracks first, so we had about an hour to get everything cleaned up
      you wanna talk about a buncha men working as a team...
      we had the buffer going, you heard nothing but vacuums, sweeping, mopping, and calls for the medic to get a hooker with an IV
      pure mayhem
      we get all the sluts out of our own rooms, and since the dayroom only had a little bit of furniture and we can work on it together, we all hit it at once
      well...there was one chick left over
      still passed out, topless in a leather skirt
      when we heard CQ on the first floor call "AT EASE!"
      fucking panic
      Aubaugh, being the smart crazy jew he was, stole a buncha rappelling gear from mountaineering
      tied her passed-out ass up in a swiss-seat
      (mind you, she was wearing JUST a skirt, and a swiss seat goes between the legs)
      tie the 120 to the center pillar, tied her figure 8 off in a bowline, and pushed her out the window
      she hung there for FORTY FIVE FUCKING MINUTES
      We pass the inspection
      BUT
      as 1SG was walking out of the barracks, he walked around the outside looking for cigarette butts and caught us hauling her naked ass back in the window...
      Fail
      we had such a good chance to get away with it...
      man was that a long week for charlie company, 2-1 infantry

  • (Score: 1) by number6x on Monday October 13 2014, @10:23PM

    by number6x (903) on Monday October 13 2014, @10:23PM (#105744)

    Don't think of it as 26.1 miles at 13 mph, think of it as 26 consecutive sub-5 minute miles!

    I think about a 4:35 minute:second pace for 2 hours straight should get you under 2 hours. That is comparable to sprinting, but for 2 hours. It boggles my mind to run that fast for 2 hours. I am beat after running 45 minutes at a relatively sedate 6.5 mph on a treadmill!

    Usain Bolt was clocked at 27.79 mph [bleacherreport.com] for 20 meters of a 100 meter run. If he could accelerate to that speed instantaneously, and maintain that speed for 56 minutes and 21 seconds, he would be able to run a sub-1 hour marathon!