The announcement of an elite women’s field at most major marathons usually begins with a superlative or two.
Historic. Unprecedented. Stacked. The strongest it’s ever been.
These days, more often than not, that description is valid. Women’s elite marathoning, and to a similar extent amateur marathoning, continues to hit new standards year after year.
It was true at the 127th running of the Boston Marathon on Monday, when 14 of the women who entered the race had run a marathon faster than 2 hours 21 minutes. Five had run under 2:18.
And it will be true again this weekend at the London Marathon, when another 10 women in that race have run a marathon in under 2:19. Six of them have run under 2:18, including the world-record holder Brigid Kosgei.
This depth of talent is relatively recent, and it’s growing. The 26.2-mile distance has been covered in under 2:18 — a pace of just over 5:15 a mile — by 27 women. Twelve of those times were run in 2022. Two have been run so far in 2023.
It’s something that is echoed, to a small extent, in the men’s field, as world records continue to fall and the number of people running fast times continues to increase. The most obvious explanation for this flood of fast times is the now ubiquitous presence of super shoes, which have a…
