Kenyan Kiptum smashes men's marathon world record in Chicago
Kenyan Kelvin Kiptum shattered the men's marathon world record in Chicago on Sunday, winning in two hours and 35 seconds to beat compatriot Eliud Kipchoge's previous mark by more than 30 seconds.
www.reuters.com
I have to wonder how long it will take for metric fanatics to abolish the traditional distance of 26 miles 385 yards for the marathon, and change it to 40 kilometers or some such distance that is tidier in metric units.
After all, they did it with the mile run. The whole world knew it when a runner bested the four minute mark that he was a world class competitor, but if there is a "metric mile" (I don't know if such a distance exists in track competition), who the hell knows or cares what the record is?
Wouldn't it be ironic if some runner was poised to finish a marathon in under two hours when the distance was abolished by the world track & field overlords in favor of a metric distance that made more sense to them?