Marathon runners set sights on magical two-hour mark

Sport at the very highest level is all about breaking barriers and setting new standards, but there is one big mark which has so far proved elusive even for the world’s elite athletes.

The world record for the men’s marathon has tumbled over the years, but attempts to duck the magical two-hour mark for the 26.4 mile run have so far fallen just short.

The fact that running a marathon in two hours is even being considered is an illustration of the remarkable achievements of the world’s best runners over the years. The current world record is held by Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge who shaved a remarkable one minute and 20 seconds off the previous best when he ran the distance in two hours one minute and 39 seconds in Berlin in September 2018.

It was no surprise that Kipchoge would be the one to set such a remarkable time. Kipchoge was one of three runners who took part in an ambitious experiment in December 2016 organized sportswear giant Nike. The Breaking2 event was staged at the Grand Prix motor racing track in Monza, Italy with the intention of providing the optimum conditions for either Kipchoge, Zersenay Tadaese and Leslisa Desisa to run a marathon in under. The time could not be considered an official world record and Kipchoge was the closest to the elusive mark, covering the distance in two hours and 25 seconds.

The first record world marathon record was 2.55.18 which was achieved by American Johnny Hayes at the London Olympics in 1908. The fact that almost an hour has been taken off that mark in 110 years suggests breaking the two-hour barrier can’t be too far away.

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Grapefruit and cactus: The story behind baseball’s spring training season

Baseball has many quirky traditions, even when the sport isn’t even in season. Right now, Major League Baseball teams have all migrated south – well, the ones that aren’t located there in the first place that is – for spring training.

Spring training is a tradition that is over 100 years old with the theory that training and preparing for the new baseball season, which is traditionally starts in early April, in warmer climes was beneficial to the players.

With the number of teams travelling to states such as Florida and Arizona beginning to grow at the start of the 20th century, they began to play exhibition games against each other and these quickly morphed into mini pre-season tournaments.

One such tournament is known as the Grapefruit League and takes place in Florida. The Grapefruit first came about in 1914 as teams like the Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago Cubs and Cleveland Indians began to regularly travel to the state for spring training. Now the League features 15 teams, including two who already based in the Sunshine State.

For this teams who don’t base themselves in Florida during the early spring months, Arizona is the favored state for spring training. The Cactus League was born in the 1940s as the state became a popular destination for Major League teams and now around 15 of them base their pre-season preparations there.

Spring training often coincides with spring break for school kids, which allows them to get a close-up glimpse of their heroes without having to worry about seeking out much sought-after tickets for big games.

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