After his world record 2:01:09 run in the Berlin marathon on September 25, the world’s greatest ever male marathoner, Eliud Kipchoge, made a curious observation: “We went too fast, actually it takes energy from the muscles.”

Despite running an average speed of nearly 21km/h – and running the fastest race marathon in history – Kipchoge was saying he’d made an error in his pacing. Meaning that, had he nailed his pacing from the start, he may have had the energy left at the end of the race to run under 2:01:00.

One of the reasons marathon world records have seen such big improvements over the last few decades is because of improvements in race pacing. In the past, marathons were run using a “positive split” strategy, meaning that runners would start fast and gradually slow down in the second half of the race.

Nowadays, most professional marathon runners know it’s better to use even pacing (running the same pace through the whole race) or negative splitting (running very slightly faster in the second half of the marathon). Getting pacing right is extremely important and can even mean the difference between placing on the podium or not at all.

While the average person setting out to run a marathon probably isn’t thinking about smashing a world record, knowing how to properly pace yourself could help you smash a personal best during your next race.

Setting a strategy

When it comes to the best pacing strategy for a marathon, the science is clear – and it may actually be the opposite of what you’d assume.

Most runners tend to start out too fast, which means they slow down as a result later in the race. But if you run with even pacing instead, you’re actually far more likely to run a personal best.

Read more: https://theconversation.com/how-to-run-your-next-marathon-like-a-pro-it-could-help-you-smash-a-personal-best-191446