Boston Bonanza - Course Record Analysis / Elite Runners Avoiding Carbs? / Acute Stress Anti-Doping Refusal

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Show Notes

The Spotlight today is heavily focused on an historically fast Boston Marathon, which saw an incredible 2:01:52 for defending champion John Korir. It obliterated the course record, with the podium all going under Geoffrey Mutai's 2:03:02 from 2011. It's been called one of the "truly great" marathon performances, but Ross isn't so sure. We try to put it into context, given Boston's occasional propensity to produce exceptional conditions, with a tailwind that not only cancels out the impact of its hills, but overcomes them to create freak times. We dive into both the men's and women's performances, discuss some of the remarkable stats of the day, and ponder exactly where Korir's performance lies?

Also out of Boston, Tim Noakes watched the race, and because he didn't see Korir or Sharon Lokedi, the women's winner, take in any carbohydrates during the race, the obsession with carbs is misplaced, and elites don't use them the way we are told. We discuss that theory, offering a grain or two of truth, based on what we actually saw the elites do in the race, to point out that "science by TV watching" is a pretty bad idea, unless you want to show how little you care for facts.

Also in the show, England's Red Roses Rugby team dominate the sport more than perhaps any other team in history. But this has become a potential issue for the growth of the women's game, and we wonder how any other nations will catch up given Englands enormous first-mover advantage in the professionalization of the women's game?

There's a fascinating doping story emerging in women's tennis, where former Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova revealed the she refused a doping test last year because of a combination of the Doping Control Officer failing to identify himself, and anxiety and an acute stress reaction. All is not necessarily as it seems, and we look back at that incident in the light of Vondrousova's own telling of it last year. On the subject of anxiety and mental health, AFL player Elijah Holland had a mental health episode leading up to, and during a game last week, and is now receiving treatment. We wonder how such cases occur in elite sports environments where the player's are so closely monitored, and what it means for duty of care of athletes?

And finally, Gareth has some observations about robots that now run half-marathons faster than humans, and Ross has thoughts on tech use in sport, drawing from some great innovation in fencing.

Timestamps

Boston - 01:52

Fuelling - 23:10

Womens Rugby - 42:39

Doping 52:25

AFL Duty of Care - 01:06:35

And Finally Some Tech - 01:14:17

Links

• Letsrun discuss the wind, and how the elite men made the most of it to run extraordinary times in Boston 2026
• Letsrun analysis of the men's race. And the women's race. Both full of interesting stats as discussed in the show
• The tweet that sparks the analysis of what elite runners actually did during the race, and why "science based on TV watching" is a pretty bad idea
• Article on the dominance of the Red Roses: Great for them, not so good for the global game
• For supporters only: Discussion of the Vondrousova doping case
• How was Elijah Holland allowed to keep playing?
• Record breaking robots. But can they do it on the cobbles...?

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