As a marathon runner your weight will significantly affect your speed and endurance. Its no accident that the mens marathon world record holder ethiopias haile gebrselassie weighs 113 pounds. According to martin and coe if a 5 feet 6 inch elite weighs 120 pounds a similarly built runner who stands 6 feet 05 inches or 11 times taller than the first runner would weigh 156 pounds or. Thus a man 6 feet tall 1829m would be allocated 110lbs 50kg plus 12 x 5½lbs 2495kg which comes to 176 lbs or 12 st 8lbs 80kg. Kenneth mcarthur the 1912 marathon champion. In 2011 he weighed 562 kg 1239 lbs.
A marathon is a 26 mile running event often run on roads. Elite runner tina muir talks about how even elite athletes have weight changes throughout the year. One study on the effects of weight on running performance found that the addition of 5 pounds of weight to the body reduced running performance in a 12 minute time trial by 5 percent. Even elite marathoners like meb keflezighi plan to gain weight after a marathon once they have achieved their racing weight for a few weeks prior to a big event. It is healthy to gain weight after the season and you will lose that weight again naturally with training. Thats a big drop.
Height 188 m 6 ft 2 in weight 77 kg 170 lb anthropometric measures of olympic marathoners. Thereafter he is allocated 5½ lbs 2495 kg for every additional inch o025m in height. They also got shorter from 173 m 5 81 to 170 m 5 69. In 1990 the average top 100 guy weighed 596 kg 1314 lbs. Hopefully the formula above and ideas about planning ones weight throughout the year will help you to answer one of runnings most common questions. This data reveals itself through past marathon winners as well as through the weight to height ratios of elite running athletes.
If two pro runners of similar height but on opposite ends of the weight spectrum can both have success at the highest level its a clear indicator that ideal weight is relative. Here is a table of the height weight and body mass index bmi of the male olympic marathon champions for most olympiads a few early details are unavailable. The average man is allocated 110 lbs 50kg for the first 5 feet 1524m in height. There is a reason that most elite marathon runners are. Almost without exception elite marathon runners stand 5 foot 7 give or take two inches and weigh 140 pounds plus or minus a few pounds.
Gallery of Elite Marathon Runners Weight Height
