International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance, 2014, 9, 715-719 http://dx.doi.org/10.1123/IJSPP.2013-0318 © 2014 Human Kinetics, Inc.

www.IJSPP-Journal.com INVITED COMMENTARY

Evolutionary Pattern of Improved 1-Mile Running Performance Carl Foster, Jos J. de Koning, and Christian Thiel The official world records (WR) for the 1-mile run for men (3:43.13) and for women (4:12.58) have improved 12.2% and 32.3%, respectively, since the first WR recognized by the International Association of Athletics Federations. Previous observations have suggested that the pacing pattern for successive laps is characteristically faster-slower-slowest-faster. However, modeling studies have suggested that uneven energy-output distribution, particularly a high velocity at the end of the race, is essentially wasted kinetic energy that could have been used to finish sooner. Here the authors report that further analysis of the pacing pattern in 32 men’s WR races is characterized by a progressive reduction in the within-lap variation of pace, suggesting that improving the WR in the 1-mile run is as much about how energetic resources are managed as about the capacity of the athletes performing the race. In the women’s WR races, the pattern of lap times has changed little, probably secondary to a lack of depth in the women’s fields. Contemporary WR performances have been achieved a coefficient of variation of lap times on the order of 1.5–3.0%. Reasonable projection suggests that the WR is overdue for improving and may require lap times with a coefficient of variation of ~1%. Keywords: pacing, gender differences, elite athletes The 1-mile run is one of the classic events in athletics. As the middle event of the classic triad of 100-m/mile/marathon, the mile holds a uniquely central role, requiring both speed and endurance. The year 2013 marks a special point in the history of the 1-mile run. Although records for the 1-mile run have been kept for nearly 150 years, the first men’s world record (WR) recognized by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) was by J.P. Jones of the United States (4:14.4) in 1913, almost exactly a century ago. In the ensuing century, the record has improved by 31 seconds (12.2%) to 3:43.13, by Hicham El Geurrouj of Morocco in 1999.1,2 Similarly, the women’s WR has improved 32.3% since the first recognized WR (6:13.2) by Elizabeth Atkinson in 1921 to the current WR of 4:12.58 by Svetlana Masterkova in 1996 (Figure 1).1,2 Reasonable extrapolation of the WR progression suggests that both men’s and women’s WRs are overdue for improvement and could reasonably be as low as 3:40 and 4:05, respectively. In 2009 Noakes et al3 examined the pacing pattern in WR races in the 1-mile run by men, over a period of more than a century, with reference to which laps were the fastest or slowest. They observed that, with few exceptions, the first and last laps were consistently the fastest. This observation fit with a larger body of evidence collected from other sources of a U-shaped relationship between relative event duration and muscle-power output.4–6 The observations of Noakes et al3 also fit with the concept that humans maintain a “reserve” during exercise7,8 and that the tendency to increase or decrease muscle-power output is based on the interaction of the magnitude of homeostatic disturbances evaluated against the maximum possible homeostatic disturbance,9–13 which is often reflected by the momentary rating of perceived exertion14–16 and the relative percentage of the event Foster is with the Dept of Exercise and Sport Science, University of Wisconsin–La Crosse, La Crosse, WI. de Koning is with the Dept of Human Movement Sciences, VU University–Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Thiel is with the University of Applied Science–Bochum, Bochum, Germany. Address author correspondence to Carl Foster at [email protected].

remaining.17 Given the continuing evolution of the WR, and despite the reality that there must be a species limit to how fast the 1-mile run can be completed, we were interested in determining if there is also evolution in how the race is being run (eg, pacing strategy) that might be contributing to the evolution of the WR. During the last 20 years there has been considerable interest in pacing strategy,3–8,10,11,14,16–21 particularly with reference to how humans perceive fatigue11–13,22–25 and with the apparently bidirectional signaling between the motor center and the locomotor muscles.5,9–13,22–25 There is reasonably strong evidence that pacing pattern is based on an anticipatory strategy in which athletes distribute their effort to manage the anticipated magnitude of homeostatic disturbances,5–13,22–24 in a process that has been labeled teleoanticipation.25 Pacing strategies are thought to evolve with fatigue based on the duration of an event and with the resistance of the medium through which the athlete travels (large with running, swimming, and rowing; small with cycling and speed skating4). Pacing strategies are further defined by the need to minimize kinetic energy at the finish line (essentially wasted energy that could have been used earlier to finish the event sooner).4,19 Accordingly, it seems reasonable to suggest that the pattern of running the 1-mile with a very fast last lap3 violates the concept of avoiding wasted kinetic energy. Likewise, the energetic cost of changing velocity frequently during the event would make little sense in terms of optimizing the pattern of energy expenditure, although this is frequently done for tactical competitive reasons.21 On this basis we reexamined the data published by Noakes et al3 with reference to lap-to-lap variation in velocity (eg, time required per lap). In addition, we collected data on WR performances by female athletes1,2 with reference to lap-tolap variations in running velocity during WR 1-mile competitions (Figure 2). From this examination of lap times in WR 1-mile races, it appeared that the faster-slower-slowest-faster pattern noted by Noakes et al3 was less distinct in more-contemporary (eg, faster) races. It also appeared that the relative time required to complete lap 1 was increasing and the relative time required to complete lap 3 was decreasing (particularly in male runners), which further suggested 715

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716  Foster, de Koning, and Thiel

Figure 1 — Historical evolution of world record (WR) times for the 1-mile run for men and women. The first men’s WR recognized by the International Association of Athletics Federations was not until 1913, although wellknown “world’s best” times have been recognized for ~150 years and are included here. Reasonable projections of the WR to the present time suggest that the WRs might reasonably be ~3:40 for men and ~4:05 for women.

Figure 2 — Individual lap times in world record performances for men (top) and women (bottom) documented by the International Association of Athletics Federations. The average lap times (open circles and heavy dashed line) follow the faster-slower-slowest-faster pattern noted by Noakes et al.3 However, it appears clear that faster times were recorded with relatively more-even lap times.

that a the pattern of running WR races was evolving away from the classical pattern noted by Noakes et al (Figure 3).3 To determine whether minimization of the variation in lap time might contribute to the evolution of WR performances, we plotted the coefficient of variation (CV) of lap times versus the year of each WR (Figure 4 top) and against the WR time (Figure 4 bottom). In both cases, at least in male runners, the CV evolved to a smaller value across both history and improved performance. From a CV of >6% when the first IAAF WR was established in 1913, the CV in more-contemporary WR performances is

Evolutionary pattern of improved 1-mile running performance.

The official world records (WR) for the 1-mile run for men (3:43.13) and for women (4:12.58) have improved 12.2% and 32.3%, respectively, since the fi...
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