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Marathon Information
A marathon running event is a long-distance foot race over a distance of 42.195 kilometres or
26.219 miles. Marathons are a popular form of recreational and competitive running with more
than 1000 marathons being held throughout the world each year. Most people start running to
improve their fitness or to lose weight, but then find it a fun and stress-relieving activity. It is a very
good way of improving cardiovascular fitness. Setting a marathon goal helps runners to stay
motivated whilst improving health and fitness. Many say running is the easiest sport to fit into a
busy lifestyle because it is free and can be done anywhere and at any time.
History recent years the finishing time for men has
Legend has it that the slowed down whilst women have been
origins of the marathon improving. As would be expected runners
date back to 490 BC. A over the age of 70 have the slowest finish
Greek messenger soldier times with those aged 30 to 50 being the
ran from Marathon to fastest. The fastest male world marathon time
Athens with news of an is recorded at 02:01:09 and for women is
important Greek battlefield 02:14:04.
victory. It is said he Running Injuries
collapsed and died after Injuries are common with at least 45% of
delivering the message. This is thought to be regular runners getting injured each year. The
the inspration behind the modern endurance most common injury amongst runners occurs
race and how the running event got its name. in the knees with the hips, legs and ankles
The first official marathon was held in 1896 also at risk. Women have a higher injury rate
with the distance set at 40 kilometres (nearly than men. Risk factors include lack of running
25 miles) which was the original distance experience, previous injuries, a higher body
between Marathon and Athens. In 1908 the mass index and undertraining. To avoid injury
race distance was changed to 42.195 marathon runners need to run 40 miles per
kilometres. This was allegedly to accomodate week to reach and maintain peak fitness.
a royal request for the race to start on the Arthritis and tendonitis are chronic diseases
lawn of Windsor Castle and to end in front of which are not caused by a single injury. They
the royal box at the London stadium. develop slowly over time and are probably the
Statistics most debilitating of all marathon running
Approximately 1.1 million runners complete a injuries. They can be repaired and prevented
marathon each year which is about 0.01% of by the right type of fitness and strength
the world's population. Only about 30% of training.
global marathon runners are women and the Age Graded Results
average marathon runner is 40 years old. Men Fitness and performance decline with age.
are traditionally faster than women but in We all naturally slow down as we get older
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which can be demotivating for runners. Age finish time to give an age graded performance
graded results help senior runners to compete of 71.14%. Club runners aim to hit 80% but
on a level playing field with younger any score above 70% is a good standard.
generations. Finishing times are converted This table provides guidance on the standard
into a percentage which gives a fair achieved:
comparison between athletes of different ages Percentage Level
Age Graded
Above 100% New record performance
and genders. The best recorded performance
100% World record class
time for each age, distance and gender is Above 90% World class
Above 80% National class
used to provide a graded result. This
Above 70% Regional class
performance time is divided by the finishing Above 60% Local class
time of the runner to give an age graded It can be more motivating to focus on an age
graded result rather than a running speed. In
percentage. As an example, a 50-year-old
many running events the age graded
female completes a marathon in 03:36:24. champion earns as much recognition as the
winner of the event. It also enables runners to
The best time for this age, gender and
track their performance over time, set goals
distance is 02:33:57 which is divided by the and even identify their best performance.
People new to marathon running should follow a recognised training plan at least six months
before their first event. It is recommended to run three to five times a week. Runners should aim to
increase their distance by 10% each week until they are running 50 miles per week. Rest days are
also important and should be incorporated to let the muscles recover. Competing in a few shorter
race distances is an ideal way to prepare both physically and mentally for a first marathon. Good
running shoes and nutrition also play an important part in training. Excellent information and
guidance can be found on the Internet.
