Glasses on the run Newsletter #23
Hi,
Marathon season is now in full swing with two of the world's six majors, taking place last week. First, on Monday, the Boston marathon once again proved its reputation as a challenging and sometimes brutal race with marathon world record holder Eliud Kipchoge finishing sixth, 3.5 minutes behind second time winner Evans Chebet, while Hellen Obiri won her first marathon major title.
Then, yesterday, the London marathon also proved its reputation - for one of the fastest in the world. After winning his marathon debut in Valencia last December with the third fastest time in history, Kevin Kiptum won the London race with 2:01:25 - just 16 seconds short of Kipchoge's world record. And Sifan Hassan had a dramatic run to win the women race with a remarkable victory.
One thing to point out here - marathon running is as competitive as ever. Eight out of the 10 fastest men marathon times were set during the last three years and three out of the top five just during the last seven months. Similar for women - eight out of the 10 fastest marathon times were set during the last three years.
As for me, I am in beautiful Hamburg where today I am recovering physically and mostly mentally from the Hamburg marathon yesterday, which for me didn't go quite as planned.
I hope you are all well and I hope you enjoy my selection of interesting events in the business of running for the last two weeks.
What was interesting in the business of running
Strava introduced a Spotify integration. That of course is great news for the many runners who listen to music or podcasts or any audio content while running. But it also matters for Strava's business because - from the Verge article:
the move bolsters Strava’s status as a de facto fitness hub.
Brooks has partnered with Arris Composites to create a new carbon fiber sole plate running shoe, which apparently helped professional runner Zach Panning cut five minutes off his personal record in Chicago last year. It will be interesting to see what were the results with that shoe in the Boston marathon last week.
La Sportiva North America has been Climate Neutral Certified, achieving net-zero carbon emissions for 2022. For context, 'the average pair of running shoes generates 14kg of carbon emissions during its life cycle' and the demands from consumers for more sustainable production are becoming higher, so such steps and announcements are bound to continue.
Coros has introduced its most significant range of updates and changes to their product portfolio so far. Here is a thorough overview from DC Rainmaker.
Reviews
Runner's World on zero drop shoes. I have been using only zero or low drop shoes for more than five years now and found this explainer very helpful.
Wirecutter on Hoka. A good reminder that, like any other shoe, Hokas are not necessarily the best choice for every runner.
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Thank you for reading,
Momchil
