[Comment] Born to run: our future depends on it

On May 6, 2017, a Kenyan distance runner ran the marathon in 2 h 25 s at the Monza racetrack in Italy. Although Eliud Kipchoge's time marks the fastest marathon ever run, his performance cannot be considered an official world record (currently at 2 h 2 min 57 s) because the race did not conform to rules required by the International Association of Athletics Federations.1 Yet, this astonishing performance suggests that a sub 2-h marathon under official conditions might not be far away and shows the remarkable capacity of the human body, as exemplified by Kipchoge's ability to endure a gruelling training regime (>120 miles per week at an altitude of about 2400 m) that helped him achieve a performance previously considered impossible.

Source: LANCET - August 11, 2017 Category: General Medicine Authors: Alejandro Santos-Lozano, Alejandro Lucia, Luis Ruilope, Yannis P Pitsiladis Tags: Comment Source Type: research