Comparing Olympic Triathlon times with Marathon times

Pisco Sour

What would be the Olympic Triathlon equivalent of a 3 hours, 3.30, 4 hour etc Marathon? I know the courses will vary, but for simplicity purposes assume both courses are of equal difficulty.

The top elite Triathletes would complete a course in 1hr 45, while the elite Marathonners would do it in around 2hrs 05. So a top marathon time would be 1.19 times longer than a top Olympic Triathlon time.

So could this 1.19 figure be applied to various marathon times to get an equivalent Triathlon time, or is it not as simple as that?

Using this figure a 3 hour marathon equates to a 2hrs 31 minute Triathlon, a 3hr 30 Marathon equates to a 2hr 56 minute Triathlon, and a 4 hour marathon equates to a 3 hour 21 minute Triatlon.

I'm in a geeky mood today

Krusty_Clown

Do you think the top triathletes could run a 2:05 marathon?! Do you think Haile can swim? Apples and oranges. No point making the comparison.

Pisco Sour

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Do you think the top triathletes could run a 2:05 marathon?! Do you think Haile can swim? Apples and oranges. No point making the comparison.

Ah I know that. I just thought it would be interesting to compare. Be nice to know how my Triathlon time compare to my target Marathon time.

uberwolf

there must be some sense of thresholds though? A 3hr marathoner being a top quality sub elite runner (hope that insults no one!)

What's the equivalent for the triathlon

shels4ever

uberwolf wrote: »

there must be some sense of thresholds though? A 3hr marathoner being a top quality sub elite runner (hope that insults no one!)

What's the equivalent for the triathlon

I dont think you would say sub 3 is top quality sub elite(whatever that is), more 2:40 or faster ..

uberwolf

fair enough, point taken from both of you in respect of the 3hr threshold.

Pisco Sour

The IAAF have equivalent performance tables between all their events, so a marathon time can be compared to a javelin throw, or a Long Jump.

So if that can be done then why cant a Marathon time be compared to an Olympic Triathlon time?

tracto

I would estimate the following (assuming standard course conditions):

2:20 marathon = 1:50 tri = pro
2:40 marathon = 2:00 tri = top class domestic (Irish) amateur
3:00 marathon = 2:10 tri = average man who has trained hard for a full pre season and has good technique
3:15 marathon = 2:20 tri = good respectable time

It's not exactly scientific but it's my twopence worth anyway!

Pisco Sour

Interesting reply I got from Letsrun:


As someone else mentioned, the difference between an average cyclist's speed and a world class cyclist's speed is not as wide as the difference between an an average marathoner's pace and a world class marathoner's pace. Swimming is similar to cycling in this regard. I think it has much to do with the huge factors that water and wind resistance play in swimming and cylcing, respectively. Doubling your power output on a bike does not double your speed, more like root2*speed. Continuing to use the baseline of 1.19 to convert from world class triathlon to world class marathon and since approximately 2/3 of the time spent doing a triathlon is swimming and cycling, a better conversion (in minutes) from triathlon (t) to marathon (m) might be:
m = 125 +[(2/3)1.19^2 + (1/3)1.19]*(t-105) or
m = 125 + 1.34(t-105)

This gives the same "equivalent" of a 2:05 marathon for our 1:45 triathlete but predicts 3:45 (instead of 3:34) for a 3:00 triathlete. I'm sure this is FAR from perfect.