It’s no secret that you just wish to be as mild and cozy as attainable in your marathon, which is why most male marathoners go for the singlet and break up shorts or half tights combo on race day. Nonetheless, Ethiopia’s Dawit Wolde took a unique strategy at Sunday’s race in Xiamen Metropolis, China, successful the 2025 Xiamen Marathon in a brand new course report of two:06:06 whereas carrying a one-piece speedsuit. Operating pundits are saying it’s probably the quickest marathon ever recorded in a pace go well with.
I believe Dawit Wolde set the world report for working the marathon in a pace go well with yesterday pic.twitter.com/lsuRh5CP3l
— Emily Evans (@RunEmilyERun) January 5, 2025
Speedsuits are uncommon for highway racing as they’re sometimes designed for quicker observe races just like the 100m or the lengthy soar. The aim of a speedsuit is to cut back air resistance, permitting athletes to maneuver extra effectively by means of the air with out their clothes holding them again. This may result in barely quicker occasions by minimizing drag. Nonetheless, in a marathon, a speedsuit might doubtlessly trigger extra hurt than good, particularly if the runner experiences any bowel malfunctions or wants a fast lavatory cease.
For Wolde, the speedsuit didn’t appear to be a problem, as he flew to a brand new Xiamen course report, successful the race by 12 seconds over Lesotho’s Tebello Ramakongoana, who ran a nationwide report of two:06:18. Ramakongoana trains in Flagstaff, Ariz., below American marathon coach James McKirdy, and he additionally completed seventh within the males’s marathon on the 2024 Paris Olympic Video games.
Final 12 months’s champion, Asefa Boki Kebebe, rounded out the rostrum for third in 2:06:32.
It was an Ethiopian sweep as the ladies’s race noticed Ruti Aga rise to the highest as soon as once more in China. The 2019 Tokyo Marathon champion gained the race in a course report of two:18:46, simply half a minute shy of her private finest set on the Dongying Marathon in 2023. The 30-year-old now owns the 2 quickest ladies’s marathon performances ever achieved in China.
For full outcomes from the 2025 Xiamen Marathon, verify right here.