The 40th anniversary of the London Marathon takes place on Sunday, October 4 2020. Athletes will run on a closed-loop circuit round St James’s Park earlier than ending on The Mall. This yr’s lineup consists of present champions Eliud Kipchoge and Brigid Kosgei. These athletes can run for greater than two hours at speeds a mean particular person may keep for less than a matter of seconds. So what makes them so quick?

Years of coaching have caused bodily diversifications that allow elite endurance athletes to carry out on the prime of their sport. Let’s first take a look at the all-important cardiovascular system, which is tailored to allow an everyday provide of oxygenated blood to the working muscle groups.

Robust coronary heart

Common coaching ends in a rise within the thickness of the muscle forming the center wall, specifically, the left aspect of the center. That is the aspect of the center accountable for circulating oxygenated blood across the physique and to the muscle groups throughout train.

Elevated thickness of the left ventricle wall (the decrease chamber of the center), permits endurance athletes to pump extra blood out of their coronary heart every time it beats. We name this the “stroke quantity”.

A daily grownup, exercising at their most stage, can have a stroke quantity of 120ml. Nevertheless, due to the elevated thickness of the center wall, endurance athletes have a stroke quantity throughout maximal train of round 200ml.

An endurance athlete’s coronary heart can beat 200 occasions each minute throughout maximal train, leading to these athletes having the ability to flow into near 40 litres of blood across the physique each minute. The quantity of blood the center pumps in a single minute known as cardiac output. In elite endurance runners, it may be almost twice that of a mean grownup throughout maximal train.

VO2 max

It’s not only a robust coronary heart that’s key to those athletes’ success. Getting sufficient oxygen to the working muscle groups can also be very important.

Actions lasting longer than a few minutes primarily depend on cardio metabolism (the method by which we use oxygen to show gasoline, reminiscent of fat and sugars, into vitality), making a relentless provide of oxygen essential to success. Elite marathon runners can breathe round 200 litres of air per minute throughout maximal train. This mixed means of the lungs and coronary heart to soak up and transport oxygen signifies that elite athletes have a really excessive VO2 max – the utmost quantity of oxygen the physique can use in a minute. VO2 max is thought to be one of many key determinants of endurance efficiency success.

VO2 max measures the quantity of oxygen you may devour whereas exercising at your most capability.

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VO2 max values in a mean grownup are round 30-45 millilitres of oxygen per kilogram of physique weight per minute. However in elite endurance athletes, VO2 max will increase to 65-80 ml/kg/min.

Operating economic system

It’s not solely the scale of an athlete’s engine (VO2 max) that’s essential for achievement, similar to a automotive, the economic system of the engine additionally performs an essential function. Most marathons are run at round 75-85% of VO2 max, that means the flexibility to work effectively at decrease train intensities can also be key to success. In operating, that is measured by “operating economic system”.

Athletes with good operating economic system want much less oxygen to run at a given pace than their opponents, preserving very important vitality for later within the race. Elite endurance runners show extremely low operating economic system values, exhibiting their means to maneuver at quick speeds whereas utilizing a a lot decrease quantity of oxygen than the typical particular person.

At a given pace, a mean particular person could usually want 220ml of oxygen per kilogram of physique weight to run one kilometre. Elite marathon runners are extra economical, maybe requiring as little as 180ml of oxygen per kilogram of physique weight to cowl the identical distance.

Lactate threshold

An essential think about operating a quick marathon race is the flexibility to run on the quickest doable pace with out changing into drained. This optimum pace or “threshold” is said to a number of modifications that occur in our physique as we train, together with the build-up of chemical substances within the blood. Blood lactate is one such substance that accumulates within the blood throughout train.

Lactate threshold is a time period utilized in train physiology to explain particular modifications (or breakpoints) to this substance throughout train.

Blood lactate is usually incorrectly considered a waste product and mistakenly considered accountable for muscle fatigue, however it’s now recognised as an essential vitality supply. Nonetheless, train above the lactate threshold is related to extra fast fatigue and, as such, the pace at lactate threshold is a strong predictor of endurance efficiency.

The next lactate threshold will allow a better operating pace to be sustained with out blood lactate accumulating, enabling the operating pace to be maintained for an prolonged interval. Elite female and male marathon runners have reported lactate threshold speeds of 18-21km/h

Because the runners lap St James’s Park on Sunday, all of the above elements will contribute to their success – they would be the key determinants of the runners’ efficiency.

Andy Galbraith doesn’t work for, seek the advice of, personal shares in or obtain funding from any firm or organisation that will profit from this text, and has disclosed no related affiliations past their educational appointment.