Locomotion Lab, Department of Integrative Physiology, University of Colorado, Boulder, 354 UCB, Boulder, CO, 80309-0354, USA.
Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Swenson College of Science and Engineering, University of Minnesota, Duluth, 104 Solon Campus Center, Duluth, MN, 55812, USA.
Sports Med. 2018 Dec;48(12):2859-2867. doi: 10.1007/s40279-018-0991-4.
During a race, competing cyclists often cooperate by alternating between leading and drafting positions. This approach allows them to maximize velocity by using the energy saved while drafting, a technique to reduce the overall drag by exploiting the leader's slipstream. We have argued that a similar cooperative drafting approach could benefit elite marathon runners in their quest for the sub-2-hour marathon.
Our aim was to model the effects of various cooperative drafting scenarios on marathon performance by applying the critical velocity concept for intermittent high-intensity running.
We used the physiological characteristics of the world's most elite long-distance runners and mathematically simulated the depletion and recovery of their distance capacity when running above and below their critical velocity throughout a marathon.
Our simulations showed that with four of the most elite runners in the world, a 2:00:48 (h:min:s) marathon is possible, a whopping 2 min faster than the current world record. We also explored the possibility of a sub-2-hour marathon using multiple runners with the physiological characteristics of Eliud Kipchoge, arguably the best marathon runner of our time. We found that a team of eight Kipchoge-like runners could break the sub-2-hour marathon barrier.
In the context of cooperative drafting, we show that the best team strategy for improving marathon performance time can be optimized using a mathematical model that is based on the physiological characteristics of each athlete.
在比赛中，参赛自行车手经常通过轮流处于领先和跟随位置来进行合作。这种方法允许他们通过利用跟随时节省的能量来最大化速度，这种技术通过利用领先者的尾流来减少整体阻力。我们认为，类似的合作跟随方法可以使精英马拉松运动员受益，帮助他们实现 2 小时内跑完马拉松的目标。
我们的目的是通过应用间歇性高强度跑步的临界速度概念，来模拟各种合作跟随方案对马拉松表现的影响。
我们使用世界上最优秀的长跑运动员的生理特征，并且通过数学模拟，当他们在马拉松比赛中超过和低于临界速度时，他们的距离能力的消耗和恢复情况。
我们的模拟结果表明，有 4 位世界上最优秀的长跑运动员，可能实现 2 小时 00 分 48 秒（小时：分钟：秒）的马拉松成绩，比当前的世界纪录快 2 分钟。我们还探索了使用多位具有埃利乌德·基普乔格生理特征的跑步者实现 2 小时内马拉松的可能性，埃利乌德·基普乔格可以说是我们这个时代最优秀的马拉松运动员。我们发现，一个由 8 名基普乔格式跑步者组成的团队可以打破 2 小时内马拉松的障碍。
在合作跟随的背景下，我们表明，使用基于每个运动员生理特征的数学模型，可以优化提高马拉松表现时间的最佳团队策略。
