This is the story of how the marathon has changed, told by some of the people behind the technological revolution. Marathon running is done individually but succeeds best when athletes work in packs, either with official pacemakers or using each other to share workloads and draft. They put one into a marathon shoe in a 2006 study, got sub-elite athletes to run on treadmills, and found a 1.3 per cent benefit in terms of energy reduction. “We set up at that point (2016), one of the most in-depth and best controlled studies on running shoes. Hoogkamer uses MRI scanners at the University of Massachusetts, which “you can’t really run in.” Some opt for ultrasound devices and others for muscle oxygenation sensors.

Source: The Times October 12, 2024 13:12 UTC