They have laid out a series of mathematical calculations that show that elite men marathoners could shave about four and a half minutes off the current world record.

 Postdoctoral researcher Wouter Hoogkamer, who led the new study, explains the calculations for running a marathon in under two hours include the baseline physiological capacity to run Kimetto’s time. The team then considered biomechanical changes that could reduce energy consumption and improve running economy.

“People have been thinking about the magical sub-two-hour marathon for a long time,” said Hoogkamer. “Our calculations show that a sub-two-hour marathon time could happen right now, but it would require the right course and a lot of organisation.”

So how can they do it? For starters, say the researchers, the athletes would need shoes roughly 100 grams lighter than Kimetto’s world record shoes, which weighed 230 grams, or just over eight ounces each. A previous study led by Hoogkamer and Professor Roger Kram showed running in 130-gram shoes could shave 57 seconds off a marathon time.

In addition, a record-breaking elite runner would do best running the first 13 miles of the race as a loop course behind a wedge of marathon ‘pacemakers.’ “He would need to draft behind them on a route that blocks the wind like a paved loop through a pine forest”, said new study co-author Kram of the Department of Integrative Physiology.

“A 1971 study by a British scientist showed that one runner drafting one metre behind another runner in a wind tunnel can reduce air resistance by 93%. But even reducing air resistance for the drafting runner by just 36 percent would improve running economy by 2.7% the savings needed to facilitate a marathon time of 1:59.59 for an athlete capable of running a solo 2:03:00 marathon.”

The second half of the race, according to the new study, should be slightly downhill but still within the regulations of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), with four top runners in a line, one behind the other.

 Hoogkamer said: “They would need to take turns blocking the air resistance and cooperatively “drafting” off of each other. This could reduce the metabolic cost of the drafting runners by about 5.9%, shaving about three minutes off the current world record.”

Alternatively, the CU Boulder study showed marathon runners in the second half of the hypothetical course could also shave off about three minutes of time in the marathon if they were lucky enough to have a strong tailwind approaching 13mph.

“We are not the first team to suggest such ideas to speed up marathon runners,” said Kram, who directs CU Boulder’s Locomotion Laboratory. “But we are the first to quantify each of the strategies with careful calculations in a single paper.”

“This study is significant for both scientists and serious marathon runners because we really delve into what we know about the exercise physiology of running, as well as the biomechanics of running,” said Assistant Professor Christopher Arellano of the University of Houston, a study co-author. “Now it’s up to scientists and the most elite marathon runners to put our ideas to the test.”

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This study was published online in the journal Sports Medicine

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GPS run watches: 10 of the best tested and rated

They found the standard chest strap was the most accurate regardless of the intensity of the workout or whether someone was using the treadmill, cross-trainer or stationery bike.

“If you need to know your heart rate with accuracy when exercising — either because you are training for a marathon or have safe heart rate limits set by your doctor, perhaps due to coronary artery disease, heart failure or other heart conditions — wrist-worn monitors are less accurate than the standard chest strap,” said Marc Gillinov, MD from the Cleveland Clinic, Ohio and the study’s lead author. “We found these devices can equally over- and underestimate heart rate. The error ranged from +/-34 beats per minute to +/-15 beats per minute, depending on the type of activity.”

The study followed 50 volunteers who were on average 38 years (±12 years), 43% female and generally healthy. Each participant was fitted with a continuous 4-lead electrocardiogram (ECG), a chest monitor and an armband (Scosche Rhythm+). They were then randomly fitted with two of four different wearable heart rate monitors (one on each wrist). The devices chosen for testing were the Apple Watch, Fitbit Blaze, Garmin Forerunner 235, and TomTom Spark Cardio.

Researchers then recorded volunteers’ heart rates at rest and after light, moderate and vigorous exercise across three types of activities, including the treadmill, stationary bike and cross-trainer(with and without hand levers). Measurements on the wearable devices were compared to readings from the chest strap and ECG. Participants exercised for a total of 18 minutes; one dropped off at the final stage due to fatigue.

The chest strap monitor closely matched readings from the electrocardiogram (ECG), which is the gold standard for measuring the heart’s activity (level of agreement with EKG, rc=.996; 1 being perfect agreement); however, the wrist-worn devices were less accurate on average (level of agreement with EKG, rc=.67-.92).

While the watch-style heart rate monitors may accurately report heart rate at rest, and most were acceptable on the treadmill, they were fairly inaccurate while cycling or using the cross-trainer.

Of the wrist-worn heart rate monitors, only the Apple Watch provided accurate heart rate readings when participants switched to the cross-trainer trainer without arm levers; none gave correct measurements when they used arm levers. The wrist and forearm monitors also became less accurate the more intense the activity levels, with the exception of the Apple Watch.

“Even though all these wrist-worn monitors work by the same general principles, there is considerable variation among them,” Gillinov said. “Overall, they were most accurate when someone was using the treadmill at low intensity and worst when exercising on the elliptical at high intensity.”

What’s behind the discrepancies? While the chest strap and the ECG measures electrical activity of the heart, wrist-worn monitors use optical sensing or light to measure blood flow.

“It’s not measuring what the heart does, but rather [downstream] blood flow – basically the volume of blood in the tissue,” Gillinov said, adding that these devices also introduce many more variables that can result in incorrect readings (e.g., insufficient contact with the skin because of sweating or poor fit, skin pigmentation).

The bottom line, Gillinov said, is that the wrist-worn devices don’t provide the full picture; nor are they intended to be medical devices.

“We are just at the beginning of a revolution in personal management of health by virtue of wearable physiological monitoring,” Gillinov said. “As people take more control of their health and record their own physiological data, they need to know how accurate it is; this is especially concerning for people with heart conditions that can be exacerbated [with activity]. Cardiologists can use this data and decide which monitor they would recommend and help educate patients about their limitations.”

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Should you trust your bike power meter?

How to gauge if you’re running aerobically or anaerobically

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Tri gadgets: how much should you use them?

Ironman World Series highlights will be carried exclusively in the UK by the channel, with a range of competitions available including Short Course Tri, Ironkids and Ironman.

 Likewise, Xterra World Tour highlights will air exclusively on BIKE Channel, with athletes from around the world competing in off-road triathlons and trail runs in some of the the world’s most spectacular and challenging natural environments.

Filippo Ubaldini, Founder & CEO of Bike Channel
 said: “Bike Channel is the perfect destination for endurance sports involving cycling, and we are thrilled to be expanding our coverage to include the ITU World Triathlon Series, Xterra and Ironman World Series. 

We know that our audience loves to see what has happened in an event, and these acquisitions will hopefully open our channel up to even more people.”

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BIKE Channel is available on Sky channel 464, Virgin Media channel 552 and Freesat channel 251. 

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When Wahoo tested it against some of the leading competitors using computational fluid dynamics (CFD), the company says that it reduced air resistance by over 50% – equating to a 12.6 second time reduction over a 40km time trial course for a rider traveling at 21 miles per hour.

World-renowned cycling aerodynamics expert Dimitris Katsanis collaborated with Wahoo to develop and test the Eelemnt Bolt.

“In recent years, the sport of cycling has placed a premium on the study of aerodynamics and gaining a mechanical advantage wherever possible,” said Katsanis. “With this in mind, Wahoo created a bike computer design that lends itself to actually improving results on the bike, in addition to tracking them. We thought about the desired result and worked backwards from there, designing the computer and mount as a single integrated aerodynamic package while still delivering on the core Wahoo user experience.”

“It seems silly professional riders spend hours in the wind tunnel trying to reduce every watt of drag possible on their equipment setup, but until now, no one has focused on the computer design and how it affects performance,” said Chip Hawkins, CEO of Wahoo Fitness. “We designed the Element Bolt to provide riders with all the data they need to perform at their best, while also improving their results.”

It is equipped with WiFi for over-the-air updates and both ANT+ and Bluetooth, allowing it to connect to sensors of all kinds and the most popular electronic shifting systems.

Pre-loaded with maps from around the world, the Elemnt Bolt also seamlessly integrates with popular cycling platforms like Strava Live Segments, Best Bike Split Race Plans, and Ride With GPS.

Elemnt Bolt retails for £199.99 and is now available for purchase from wahoofitness.com and leading bike dealers.

220 will also be reviewing the Elemnt Bolt soon and seeing whether it lives up to these claims.

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Cycling aerodynamics Q&A: how can I reduce drag on the bike section?
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$1.5 million dollar Super League Triathlon unveiled

 Murray finished Stage 1 in third place after hanging off the back on the bike and making up time on the run. Richard Varga (#12) led the swim through the first turn buoy with a clear lead through the 300-metre course. But once on the bike, the lead switched several times throughout the six laps to make up the 6-kilometer cycle course. Siggy Ragnarsson (#57) dropped out, leaving only 23 competitors who all stayed close on the last lap. Ryan Fisher (#10) led through the first lap of 250 meters, but in the end it was compatriot Jake Birtwhistle (#44) followed by Mario Mola (#03) and Murray who finished in the top three spots for Stage 1.

Stage 2 began with a run led out by triathlon greats Spencer Smith and Brad Bevan through a neutral zone. Athletes took position behind him according to their finish order from Stage 1. Ben Shaw (#73) and Birtwhistle led the rest of the field through all four run laps, running shoulder-to-shoulder into transition to get on their bikes. Fisher and Birtwhistle took the lead on the bike, with Alistair Brownlee dropped from the pack. However, Shaw crept up on Fisher and the two were first to hop off the bike and into the water. Varga’s swim prowess again took him into the lead but this time to take the Stage 2 victory, with Andrea Salvisberg (69) and Igor Polyanskiy (#77) in third.

The final stage of Triple Mix began on the bike with Robbie McEwen leading the athletes out through the neutral zone. Josh Amberger (#27) and Salvisberg made an early move and steadily built a 15-second gap through four laps. Brent McMahon (#83) led the chase pack, and Ryan Bailie (#39) made a huge effort to bridge the gap and entered the top three by the last lap. It was game over for Shaw as he overcooked the turnout of transition to crash out.

Salvisberg was first to the dismount line and made a flying leap off the pontoon and led through to the first can, but Varga once again surged through the water to take the lead, with Bailie on his shoulder. But in fifth place, Murray was waiting to strike. And strike he did, taking the lead, lapping a struggling Alistair Brownlee (#23) who was more than a minute back out of the swim, and chatting to the camera as he came down the finish chute. Varga and Bailie sprinted for second place, with the former edging the latter by a shoulder and then collapsing past the finish line.

Not only did Murray take the stage win, but also the overall win. Varga placed second even with the five-second bonuses he won for being first out of the water in Stage 1 and winning Stage 2. Bailie picked up the final spot on the podium.

“I planned to take it pretty easy on the first day, but then on the last run I noticed the favourites were behind me, so I knew it was my moment to go,” said Murray.  “I don’t think he [Alistair Brownlee] was in the best shape ever when he came here. I can’t say it wasn’t great, I’ve done it once before but I think he had an injury, maybe the heat got to him or something. It’s definitely not the usual Alistair Brownlee that you’d see every single day. I don’t feel awesome from lapping someone who’s probably going 50 percent or 70%.”

Murray will now focus on getting ready for the Eliminator format for Day 2 of Super League Hamilton Island, which will involve a time trial in the morning and more swimming, biking, and running in the afternoon. “I’m very happy with how it turned out and I’ll try to recover now and get ready through the next ten hours, because in ten hours’ time we’re doing the time trials. I hope I can get a good starting position for the afternoon out of that.”

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Watch Day 2 of Super League Hamilton Island live on superleaguetriathlon.com on March 18 at 16:30 AEST (06:30GMT).

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The victor of day 1, South African Richard Murray started the afternoon with a 20-second deficit to Cameron Dye, who had been fastest cyclist in the morning’s individual time trial.

The first swim belonged to Australian Jake Birtwhistle, who overhauled his deficit to Dye and took control on the first run. Fellow Australian Ryan Fisher attacked out of the water to hang onto Birtwhistle’s shoulder. Murray emerged from the water in eighth place.

The two Aussies pushed the pace to drop Dye, while Murray picked up the pace with his chase group to bridge the gap. Eventually at the end of the first run the athletes formed a large lead group, and Javier Gomez took the front going into the run-to-swim transition.

Kristian Blummenfelt led into the water for the second swim, but Igor Polyanskiy showed his swim prowess, churning through to head into swim-to-bike transition first. His strong swim created a gap large enough to eliminate Brent McMahon, Terenzo Bozzone and Siggy Ragnarsson as the three were unable to mount their bikes within a minute after Polyanskiy had headed onto the cycle course.

“Unfortunately, the time difference this morning was too big to bridge,” said Ragnarsson. “The guys out front were putting on a really strong pace. I was hoping I could maybe catch up, at least get on the bike and finish the bike course, but it is how it is.”

Ryan Bailie attacked up Mango Tree Hill into the second lap of the bike leg, with Gomez going with him into the front. Gomez attempted to press the pace but on Lap 5, it was Bailie and Birtwhistle who went on the offensive this time up the hill. Their joint effort was enough to build more than a ten-second gap into the bike-to-run transition.

Murray stayed right inside the chase group and hit the run in third place. Again he chased down the race leaders, but this time asserted his ownership of the run right in Lap 1, overtaking Birtwhistle for first place. The blistering speed from the man who owns the triathlon 10-kilometer run record was enough to lap Josh Amberger, Dmitri Polyansky, Crisanto Grajales Valencia, Dye, Dan Hoy, and Alessandro Fabian.

Birtwhistle’s second place went unchallenged, but Mario Mola pipped Gomez to be the first Spaniard across the finish line.

Murray’s win gives him another 20 points to add to his initial 20 points from yesterday to give him a clear overall lead. Mola moves up the leaderboard to second overall, while Richard Varga has been relegated to third.

“It was not easy,” said Murray. “That was hard, man. Each day is getting harder and harder, and Bailie and Birtwhistle, those kids can run. Give it to them. They can swim as well! I’m very stoked, but I’m going to pay tomorrow for sure.”

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Murray said he turned on the gas after overtaking the two Aussies to break them psychologically. He went so hard that he had difficulty remembering how many laps he had left to run. “Two kilometres is really long after the last few days. It wasn’t as hot as yesterday, but it was definitely hard out there.”

While Alistair Brownlee managed to stay in contact throughout Stage 2 of the Equalizer, he was not able to gain any traction on the leaderboard, staying in 19th place.

DAY 2 OFFICIAL RESULTS MAY BE DOWNLOADED FROM THE LINKS BELOW:
Equalizer Stage 1
Equalizer Stage 2

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Watch Day 3 of Super League Hamilton Island live on www.superleaguetriathlon.com on March 19 at 16:30 AEST (06:30GMT)

The Eliminator was a three stage race that saw athletes eliminated in each stage with race tactics playing as much a part as pure speed. Dual Olympic Champion Alistair Brownlee was a pre-race casualty withdrawing from Eliminator as a result of illness.
 
In Eliminator stage one athletes were vying for a top 15 finish position to progress through to stage two. In familiar fashion, Richard Varga was first out of the water before athletes made their first ascent up a wet Mango Tree Corner on the bike leg. Following the afternoon down pour the slippery roads required strong bike handling skills and Ireland’s Ben Shaw hit the deck on the first hairpin turn of the bike course and was forced withdrew from the race. He was the first to be out of the race but it was Cameron Dye who was the first athlete to feel the wrath of Super League Triathlon’s Eliminator format as he finished in 16th place following the stage one run leg and was joined on the sidelines for stage 2 by Josh Amberger, Dmitry Polyanskiy, long course supremo’s Brent McMahon and Terrenzo Bozzone, New Zealand’s Daniel Hoy and Icelandic wildcard Sirgudur Orn Ragnarsson.
 
Richard Murray raced smartly in stage one remaining well within the front pack but did not push the pace. Mid-run Murray was in in 14th place and visibly seen counting the 13 athletes in front of him at the run turn to ensure he was in the optimal position to finish inside the top 15 in stage 1 without expending any more than he had to.
 
Stage two saw athletes battling for a top 10 position to progress through to the final stage of Eliminator.   In what had been a relatively quiet week, Rio bronze medallist Henri Schoeman came out to play early on the bike leg of stage two and pushed the pace, but it was Ryan Fisher who led out on the run and eyed off a stage 3 berth. A group of ten, including Murray, quickly formed at the front of the race before Norway’s Kristian Bluumenfelt led them across the line to claim his second stage win of the day.

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Following the completion of stage two Richard Murray was interviewed in the recovery zone following stage two and appeared confident of a title win claiming he would attack the bike course – “big gear, no fear”, he said and predicted at 2:50 pace on the stage 3 run.
 
With 14 of the world’s finest athletes sidelined for stage 3 they became enthusiastic spectators as their fellow warriors took to the pontoon for Stage 3 start in a race that would decide who would take home the Eliminator title and the winners cheque of $100,000. At the start of stage three Murray stood atop the overall series leader board on 40 points with Mola his closest rival on 31 points. A seventh place or above finish would guarantee Murray the title.
 
Stage three would crown the winner of Eliminator and following a tight swim Australia’s Ryan Fisher went out hard on the bike to set up a 16 second lead into T2 knowing that if he were to claim Eliminator he had to gap the stronger runners. Fisher held on until lap two of the run, however, the run came down to the three dominant runners of Super League Hamilton Island with Murray, Mario Mola and Australian superstar Jake Birtwhistle quickly bridging the gap to Fisher and subsequently setting an incredible pace at the front. It was Mola who made the first break among the lead pack, dropping Murray in the process, but it was Birtwhistle who looked cool and calm as he sat on the Spaniard’s heels before unleashing a devastating sprint to claim the win and the Eliminator title from Mola and Murray.
 
But it was Murray, with a third-place finish in Eliminator and victories in Triple Mix and Equalizer, who was the big winner on the day amassing a total of 56 out of 60 points across the three days of racing to take home $100,000 and the Leonid Boguslavsky Champions Trophy as the overall winner of Super League Hamilton Island.
 
The top three finishers of Eliminator also made up the overall podium finishers for Super League Hamilton Island with Mario Mola in second place (49 points) taking home the second place cheque for $50,000 and Birtwhistle capping off an incredible race week with third place overall (48 points) and receiving $30,000.

The inaugural Challenge Roma 753 event will take place on July 22 and 23, 2017. The Saturday will feature a sprint trial. The main race is on the Sunday, with the distances (approved by the Federazione Italiana Triathlon) themed around the date of the foundation of Rome in 753 BC.

The swim course will take place in the artificial lake of Laghetto dell’Eur in the Municipio district in the south of the city and will consist of 1,753m. The 75,310m (75km) bike course will head towards ancient Ostia along a ‘smooth and easy’ route for the first 30 km before going back to the city centre. Finally, the race ends with a 17,530m (17.5km) run. The event takes over and adapts the previous Roma 753 event.

The race marks the first time that Challenge, whose Roth event we recently named as the greatest triathlon in the world, have proposed a format with these distances. The usual Challenge Half events boast a 1.9km swim, 90km bike and 21.1km run

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More information about the inaugural Challenge Roma 753 is available at www.challenge-roma.com. Registration opens on 1 April 2017. 

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The Collins Cup is a first of its kind global competition in which teams of professional triathletes from the USA, Europe and the rest of the World (the “Internationals”) will compete to determine which region dominates the sport of triathlon.

Modelled after golf’s Ryder Cup, The Collins Cup will be a long-distance team competition among USA, Europe and the Internationals. Each team will consist of 12 professional triathletes, six men and six women. (Click here to see The Collins Cup – How It Works.)

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Dave Scott commented, “It is an honour to be selected as one of the USA Team captains for the inaugural Collins Cup and Karen and I look forward to helping guide the USA Team. We’ll ensure our team is well prepared for the battle.”

As part of the USA Team, Scott and Smyers will be working with Brett Favre, former Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame quarterback. Smyers commented, “As triathlon is normally an individual sport, Dave and I thought it would be helpful to get some guidance on team dynamics and as a truly legendary leader in his sport, it will be a privilege to have Brett as a resource.”

Over the next 12 months, Scott and Smyers will be looking to add additional support members to the USA Team as well as be in contact with the athletes and their coaches as the places on the USA Team begin to solidify.

Scott commented, “Look, it is very simple: The USA created this sport and the first Collins Cup will be in US waters and on US soil. We will make sure that the USA Team is fully prepared. We know that some people think that Europe may be the strongest team, but as many have learned in the past, you underestimate the power of the stars and stripes at your peril.”

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For more information, head to thecollinscup.com