Welcome to the Science of Sport, where we bring you the second, third, and fourth level of analysis you will not find anywhere else.

Be it doping in sport, hot topics like Caster Semenya or Oscar Pistorius, or the dehydration myth, we try to translate the science behind sports and sports performance.

Consider a donation if you like what you see here!


Did you know?
We published The Runner's Body in May 2009. With an average 4.4/5 stars on Amazon.com, it has been receiving positive reviews from runners and non-runners alike.

Available for the Kindle and also in the traditional paper back. It will make a great gift for the runners you know, and helps support our work here on The Science of Sport.



Sunday, October 11, 2009

Chicago 2009 In-race splits

Splits from the 2009 Chicago Marathon

Below is a table with the kilometer splits (those we got) from today's Chicago marathon, which saw Sammy Wanjiru win his fourth major marathon - Fukuoka, Beijing, London and now Chicago.

His time? 2:05:41, one second inside the course record, so mission accomplished, at least from that point of view. The world record eluded him, but the cold, the wind and the pace-making (too fast early, didn't last long enough) didn't allow that.

The splits make for interesting reading. The early pace was unbelievably fast - 5km was reached in 14:34 and 10km was covered in 29:10, projecting a finish time under 2:03. It was hardly surprising that the pace slowed, and the second half of the race would be covered in 63:40, compared to the first half of 62:01. Abderrahim Goumri was sensible and probably ran the closest to an even split - 62:50 and 63:14.

Wanjiru's decisive move came just before 35km, when he shifted to drop the Kenyans who had kept pace up to that point.

The wind certainly played a role - it was coming from the North, and if you look at the table below, you'll see some really slow final kilometers - that's partly due to the race situation, the fast early pace, but also the wind, because the final stretch of the race is run directly into that wind.

Enjoy the splits below!

Thanks for following the coverage!

Ross & Jonathan

KM

Time

Elapsed time

Mile pace

Projected time

Weather

1

2:53

2:53

4:38

2:01:39

37F / 47%

2

2:53

5:46

4:38

2:01:39


3

2:56

8:42

4:43

2:02:22


4

2:53

11:35

4:38

2:02:12


5

2:59

14:34

4:48

2:02:56


6

2:53

17:27

4:38

2:02:43


7

2:52

20:19

4:37

2:02:28


8

2:58

23:17

4:46

2:02:48

38F / 43%

9

2:53

26:10

4:38

2:02:41


10

3:00

29:10

4:50

2:03:04


11

2:56

32:06

4:43

2:03:08


12

no time





13

5:52

37:58

4:43

2:03:14


14

2:58

40:56

4:46

2:03:21

37F / 44%

15

3:03

43:59

4:54

2:03:44


16

3:00

46:59

4:50

2:03:54


17

No time





18

6:02

53:01

4:51

2:04:17


19

No time





20

5:49

58:50

4:40

2:04:07


21

2:53

61:43

4:38

2:04:00


22

2:57

64:40

4:45

2:04:02


23

No time





24

No time





25

8:59

1:13:39

4:49

2:04:18


26

2:59

1:16:38

4:48

2:04:22


27

2:58

1:19:36

4:48

2:04:24

38F / 46%

28

2:50

1:22:26

4:34

2:04:13


29

2:59

1:25:25

4:48

2:04:17


30

3:21

1:28:46

5:23

2:04:51


31

3:00

1:31:46

4:50

2:04:54


32

2:58

1:34:44

4:46

2:04:55

38F / 45%

33

No time





34

6:16

1:41:00


2:05:21


35

2:58

1:43:58

4:46

2:05:21


36

2:54

1:46:52

4:43

2:05:15


37

2:55

1:49:47

4:42

2:05:12


38

3:00

1:52:47

4:50

2:05:14


39

3:01

1:55:48

4:51

2:05:17

38F / 43%

40

3:08

1:58:56

5:02

2:05:28


41

3:06

2:02:02

4:59

2:05:35


42

No time





F

3:39

final 1.195k

4:45

2:05:41




Note: The race doesn't do 1km splits, and so we're reliant on our own 'spotters' out on the course to report to us as the elites hit each kilometer mark, which we then match up against our official race timing. So we apologize for any missed splits, but here's our best efforts to track the race as it unfolds!

Donate and support The Science of Sport

Thank you for taking time to read and follow our coverage of the Chicago Marathon at The Science of Sport. We hope you've enjoyed the insights we've tried to provide! Your time and energies are greatly appreciated!

We run this site as a "labour of love" and will continue to do so, but of course, any support is greatly appreciated. So, if you would like to donate and support our continued efforts to bring you the insights and analysis, please consider donating to our site. You can do so in one of two ways:
  1. If you are reading this on our site, then simply scroll up to the top of the page, where you will find the DONATE button at the top right of the page.
  2. If you are reading this in our email newsletter, click here to be taken to our site, where you will see the DONATE button at the top right of our homepage.
Thank you once again, and keep on reading!
Ross

3 Comments:

Mark Milan said...

There is a live feed of the race at http://www.universalsports.com/

It's working for me in the UK, so it's not just for US denizens.

Anonymous said...

Thanks a lot for this effort!!
Not having access to live pics, this gives me a lot of suspense seeing the figurs as the race unfolds

I still think he can make it (despite the cold) [if only he'd run more disciplined.....]

Frans Rutten said...

Good prediction. Providing the splits was a great idea. As much as the americans are into stats, they always seem to be rather slobbish in providing, visualizing effective splits. Although of what I saw today, was better.

Once again it's seemes rather obvious, that the marathon limit for the time being is reached. You can argue about the temperature (and wind) as also seemed to be the case with the latest effort of Haile. But the overall pattern remains each time the same.

Set WR pace comparisons aside, the marathon today of Wanjiru suddenly appears a decent run marathon. The last six 5K segments only differ 23seconds.

But it's not enough anymore to run a decent marathon, having a fast start or rather a supreme second half, like Tergat had. Although he still got his WR of 2:04.55.

You have to be on the edge all of the time and even then..

Haile's 2008 run is still the WR, because it has the best of both worlds.