Athletics 2023

kirk.

Seems to be improvements allround with tracks wavelights and shoes

marathon2022

Sub 2.12 wow

yerwanthere123

This is what the above post is referring to btw 😛 Tigist Assefa runs 2:11:53 to obliterate the women's marathon world record.

https://twitter.com/Cathal_Dennehy/status/1705878225262363043?t=F07cbmA91BT5z53vK5CweA&s=19

Runster

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121149854#Comment_121149854

There will probably be a threshold time where men cannot naturally progress their time for the marathon anymore but women have a long way to go given the fact that historically women are not competing nearly as long as men are, there have not been half as many females competing so they have lacked competition in their division and women have not had the support or resources that men have had.

But the good news is that everything is improving in this regard for women. More money being put into female sport, more interest from female competitors, more competition which improves times and make the sport more interesting and exciting for the entire world to watch and admire.

marathon2022

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121150082#Comment_121150082

Well said, I can see 2.10 going in the next 5 years maybe less at this rate. It make s a great spectacle. I had a great big smile watching that performance this morning. Incredible

Pherekydes

She was wearing the new Adidas super shoes. Interesting.

kirk.

ADIZERO ADIOS PRO EVO 1

Copied from letsrun if that's the correct ones

Was there many athletes wearing them I wonder

Runster

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121150154#Comment_121150154

Its a legal shoe and every other elite has their equivalent brand on too and probably any joesoap who has the money for them too. This is a fact of life for both the men and women these days. Its fair game for anyone competing in todays technology unless you want to go back to bare foot running.

kirk.

Advancements across the board related to technological developments

Pherekydes

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121150173#Comment_121150173

They're $500 and they're single use. I'm sure any average runner would be delighted to shell out for them. After all, the only possible alternative is barefoot running.

walshb

Like I always thought, Paula’s time wasn’t so crazy after all.

kirk.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121150264#Comment_121150264

This is elite level what's the relevance

Is there any regulation on supershoes ATM apart from the obvious that they can't be electrically powered

Sandwell

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121150284#Comment_121150284

There's an upper limit on stack height. The Adidas Prime X is illegal for that reason. This new shoe presumably adheres to the stack height regs but may have other tech that hasn't been regulated for yet. It's certainly got Adidas the type of publicity they hoped for, particularly with Kipchoge not breaking any records this time. I imagine Petros, the new German men's record holder was wearing them too.

kirk.

Ya I was thinking there'd be something on "stack height"

Thos topic of shoes is surely only going to get more controversial regarding competitive advantage

omicron

40mm stack height and carbon plate only allowed in a single plane are the main rules I think?

As far as I remember in the Ineos breaking 2 project Kipchoge had a prototype shoe with stacked plates, before the regulations kicked in.

Lumen

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121150173#Comment_121150173

They're only making a few hundred of them, at least in the initial manufacturing run. They're not widely available.

Runster

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121153220#Comment_121153220

I think you're missing the original point. This woman was was not the only person wearing super shoes and they were legal shoes. She also put the work in so lets give her the credit for it.

kirk.

There'd be plenty of turkeytrotters happy to pay the 500 for a PR

Lumen

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121156232#Comment_121156232

That is true, but the point of the regs is that anybody should be able to buy the shoes if they're not sponsored by that manufacturer, and these shoes cannot really be bought at this time. They're homologation shoes, essentially. They comply with the letter of the regs but not the spirit (although this is not unique to this shoe or manufacturer).

I doubt, however, that they give a substantial advantage. 50g has not been shown to give statistically significant benefit, and that's roughly how much lighter they are, in exchange for being essentially disposable.

Runster

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121157572#Comment_121157572

You say that like its something that just applies to this sport or this brand, this goes on in every sport like motorsports, cycling etc. and always has done.

The elites get treated like elites and get the prototype or the best of the best.

The brand gets its publicity and if the professional athlete performs then they're both winners.

This is a marketing ploy and a business transaction between the professional athlete, the brand and then the public who are watching.

The brand and the athlete become hot property and the public want their shoes at any cost.

Should it happen? Its business.

Lumen

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121157724#Comment_121157724

Thanks for explaining professional sport to me. I had no idea.

Runster

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121158115#Comment_121158115

Dont get pissed, I'm only responding to your post not to you personally.

Pherekydes

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121157572#Comment_121157572

She improved by 3:46 in one year. Do you think it's all down to her own improvement?

Lumen

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121158313#Comment_121158313

I'm open minded, but she wasn't the only one using this particular shoe, and others didn't post the same gains.

Here's the study I read on effects of shoe mass on running performance.

Influence of Shoe Mass on Performance and Running Economy in Trained Runners

See particularly Discussion section, e.g.

The aim of this study was to assess the effects of adding extra shoe mass (50 and 100 g) on RE, HR, gait characteristics, neuromuscular variables and performance in trained runners. The main finding was a reduction of performance (∼22%) in a TTE test at constant speed corresponding to vVO2max when 100 g were added per shoe. In addition, we found an increase in the energy cost of running (worse RE) when 100g were added per shoe at 85 and 95% of VT2 (7.40 and 10.20%, respectively), although there were no differences when 50g were added.

Runster

This was also only her 3rd marathon at aged 26. She had more gains to make than a seasoned marathoner.

Pherekydes

Interesting study and thanks for posting the link.

Two things: firstly, these shoes are 92g lighter than their previous lightest shoes according to Adidas' own blurb

• Weighing just 138g, the revolutionary road-racer is 40% lighter than any other racing supershoe adidas has ever created

And secondly, improvement in shoe technology, and hence racing time, is not limited to shoe weight. Carbon plates are pushing the envelope forward and the shoe companies are refining and improving all the time. Maybe Adidas have just gone next level?

Runster

Only one carbon plate is allowed

Lumen

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121158579#Comment_121158579

Thanks for doing the maths!

Oddly the study reported that "there were no differences between the sexes, which shows that the increase in shoe mass affects men and women equally" which is surprising, since the men in the study were about 18% heavier. I'd have expected the lighter runners to benefit more from a light shoe.

That said, Tigst Assefa is reportedly 53 kg, so she's not exceptionally light either (heavier than the female average in the study by a couple of kg).

Whatever, I doubt she's ever going to have to buy a pair of Adidas as long as she lives 😂

Pherekydes

True. I just saw Adidas have them in stock online. 🤔

🤣🤣

Runster

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121158665#Comment_121158665

Indeed