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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 over
date back to 490 BC. A the age of 70 have the slowest finish times
Greek messenger soldier with those aged 30 to 50 being the fastest.
ran from Marathon to The fastest male world marathon time is
Athens with news of an 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. We
are traditionally faster than women but in all naturally slow down as we get older which
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Ayan Malik IS2-A
can be demotivating for runners. Age graded aim to hit 80% but any score above 70% is a
results help senior runners to compete on a good standard. This table provides guidance
level playing field with younger generations. on the standard achieved:
Finishing times are converted into a Percentage Level
Ag Above 100% New record performance
percentage which gives a fair comparison e 100% World record class
between athletes of different ages and Gr Above 90% World class
Above 80% National class
genders. The best recorded performance time ade Above 70% Regional class
for each age, distance and gender is used to
d Above 60% Local class
provide a graded result. This performance It can be more motivating to focus on an age
time is divided by the finishing time of the graded result rather than a running speed. In
runner to give an age graded percentage. As many running events the age graded
an example, a 50-year-old female completes a champion earns as much recognition as the
marathon in 03:36:24. The best time for this winner of the event. It also enables runners to
age, gender and distance is 02:33:57 which is track their performance over time, set goals
divided by the finish time to give an age and even identify their best performance.
graded performance of 71.14%. Club runners
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.
