These priority areas will be arranged in ten work packages each comprising specific milestones and deliverables and led by a senior scientist or medical/biomedical professional. Leaders of each work package will also constitute the SUB2 Project Steering Committee.
The collection, cleaning and storage of data. Run by Guan Wang
Dealing with the development of individualised nutritional strategies optimised for the different periods of training and competition. Run by Andrew Bosch
The collection, cleaning and storage of data.
The 'omics' (e.g. genomics, transcriptomics, metabolomics, proteomics and epigenomics) is a rapid expanding field of biology that looks at the global transcriptional, translational or epigenomic feature of a cell, tissue or organism. 'Omics' approaches have already been successfully applied in a wide range of important biomedical problems such as cancer diagnosis but also in sport and exercise medicine such as to identify novel biomarkers of doping and this area of investigation will be further enhanced as part of the sub2 marathon project to promote clean marathon running. Such approaches will also be applied to the sub2 marathon project in order to determine the genetic influences on sporting performance, training response, injury predisposition and other potential determinants of successful marathon running.
Interpreting the vast amount of data generated when applying these state-of-the-art 'omics' approaches requires analysis of a great numbers of loci (i.e. areas of the genome of interest) including genome sequence data and data from other aspects of cell metabolism instructed by those DNA sequences or genes such as messenger RNA, the metabolites and the encoded proteins. As such, integration of 'omics' data is proving very challenging in the biomedical sciences but progress is essential in order to enhance our understanding of how entire cells work and contribute to “who we are” and how each of us responds to particular stress (e.g. training, altitude, diet, sporting competition, treatment etc.). A dedicated bioinformatic team is being created as part of the sub2 marathon project to develop efficient computerised models to integrate this complex data.
Dealing with the development of individualised nutritional strategies optimised for the different periods of training and competition.
The Nutrition work package will be multi-faceted, dealing with all aspects of nutrition as it pertains to the goals of the project of an athlete reaching a marathon in sub 2 hours.
Firstly, the athletes involved in the project will need to be on an optimal daily diet. Specifically, nutritional analyses will be done and it will be ensured that the athletes have the recommended daily nutrition, with particular attention paid to daily intake of protein and carbohydrate to ensure enough fuel substrate for intensive training and protein to aid recovery. It may be found, for example, that some athletes have sufficient carbohydrate, but sub-optimal protein intake. The project dietician will then address such an issue. Other issues would be to ensure the adequate intake of vitamins, minerals, and micro-nutrients.
Secondly, the specific “recovery” nutritional strategies of each athlete will be assessed. Here, the immediate post-training intake of carbohydrate (type and volume) and protein (type and amount) will be determined, as will the time at which the supplements are take, and anything that is sub-optimal according to current scientific research evidence, will be corrected. A third branch of the work package will be pre-race “carbohydrate loading” strategies.
Again, current the practice of each athlete will be determined, and then recommendations made to optimise what is done according to the scientific evidence base, bearing in mind that each athlete is different and that each may need a somewhat different strategy to optimise the procedure.
Next, the routine followed by each athlete on the morning of a marathon race will be evaluated, and as with the other elements discussed above, the timing of ingestion of breakfast and beverages before the start, as well as the type of these (carbohydrate type and amount, protein, etc) will be compared against what is considered the best current evidence for optimal pre-race practice, and each athlete will be helped to develop their own personalised best strategy.
Finally, “in race” ingestion of fluid and carbohydrate will be addressed. As with so many of the other issues that need to be optimised for best possible performance, the volume of fluid ingested, the time interval of ingestion, and the carbohydrate type and amount ingested will all have to be investigated and the current practice of each athlete evaluated against what is considered optimal, and then within the boundaries of practicality (it might not be possible to ingest the “recommended optimal” amount of carbohydrate when running at just over 21km/hr!), an optimal strategy worked out for each athlete to use during races.
All the above will be monitored for each athlete and changes and modifications made as may be necessary from on-going evaluation and feedback from each athlete. It is envisaged that each athlete will be educated as to why each particular element of the entire package is necessary for optimisation of performance.
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Exploring the relationship between maximal aerobic capacity and running economy and the influence of body size, anthropometry and running form on thermoregulation, running economy and fuel use.
Biomechanics and modeling will focus on lab and field approaches to monitoring gait mechanics and ground reaction forces in order to maximize racing speeds. Run by Peter Weyand
Exploring the relationship between maximal aerobic capacity and running economy and the influence of body size, anthropometry and running form on thermoregulation, running economy and fuel use.
The athlete who breaks 2 hours for the marathon will have ‘optimal’ physiology in terms of an appropriate combination of running economy, VO2 max and sustainable oxidative metabolic rate. The latter – the ‘critical’ VO2 – is related to the transport and utilisation of oxygen and requires exquisite coordination of the pulmonary, cardiovascular and muscle metabolic systems.
The translation of this rate of energy transfer to speed over the ground is determined by running economy which is, in turn, influenced by anthropometric, biomechanical, nutritional and physiological factors. Other energetic considerations for the 2 hour marathon include drafting, pacing and substrate utilisation. This work package will focus on the identification, training and race-specific preparation of the sub-s hour athlete.
Biomechanics and modeling will focus on lab and field approaches to monitoring gait mechanics and ground reaction forces in order to maximize racing speeds.
FORCING THE SUB-2 HOUR ISSUE - Breaking the marathon’s speed/time barriers will require applying large ground forces from start to finish
Racing speeds are largely determined by the forces between a runner’s foot and the ground. Accordingly, smashing the marathon’s speed/time barriers will require the breakthrough athlete to “pound the pavement” at unprecedented levels. The crucial mechanical variable is how much force the athlete can repeatedly apply to the ground in relation to body mass over the course of a race. The field of biomechanics is nearing the ability to concisely link the gait mechanics of individual runners to the ground forces they apply
The biomechanics portion of the 2-hour marathon project will have two components: 1) a laboratory component that will concisely link a runner’s motion to the ground forces they apply, and 2) a field component that will utilize wearable sensors and the force-motion relationship to acquire step-by-step ground reaction forces from racing athletes.
Dealing with the development of intelligent training methods utilising genetic technologies and linking these technologies to the very latest training aids.
Will deal with developing and executing individualised and the SUB2hr team athletes race preparation and strategy
All the sports medicine and physiotherapy requirements of the SUB2 project. Run by Nick Webborn
Promoting clean marathon running i.e. high performance marathon running without doping by applying thorough anti-doping education and regular doping controls (blood and urine). The world record can be broken by using science, medicine and technology, and not having to resort to doping to do so. Run by Olivier de Hon
All the sports medicine and physiotherapy requirements of the SUB2 project.
Promoting clean marathon running i.e. high performance marathon running without doping by applying thorough anti-doping education and regular doping controls (blood and urine). The world record can be broken by using science, medicine and technology, and not having to resort to doping to do so.
The sub2hrs-project aims to show what humans can achieve when natural gifts and genuine dedication come together. True performances are achieved without the aid of prohibited medications and drugs. Current anti-doping regulations are strict and clear and will be followed stringently in the project. All participating athletes will be part of their national anti-doping programs and IAAF-regulations, just like their competitors. In order to prevent any doubts on the performances of the athletes involved, an anti-doping program will be established that complements and strengthens the existing frameworks.
A holistic approach on anti-doping will be used that simultaneously focuses on preventing doping, protecting the clean athlete, and promoting peak performance without doping. Doping prevention will include extra education sessions targeted at both knowledge improvement and influencing attitudes of both athletes and their direct environment. Complementary to this, the clean athlete is protected by additional doping controls (blood and urine) beyond the regular programs. Samples will be stored to benefit from future advancements in detection methods. Tests will be carried out, handled and analysed and the data interpreted in accordance with WADA’s World Anti-Doping Program. All doping control results will be used to strengthen ongoing scientific research as well and thus assist with the development of the next generation anti-doping tests. By combining these aspects clean high performance marathon running will be promoted and these experiences will benefit all sports and athletes of future generations.
Focusing on new product development and spin offs linked with the project objectives.
Analyzing, with the use of satellite and ground data, the environmental (mainly thermal) conditions of past marathon routes but most importantly by providing, real time information during the race on ambient thermal conditions Run by Constantinos Cartalis and Iphigenia Keramitsoglou
Focusing on new product development and spin offs linked with the project objectives.
Analyzing, with the use of satellite and ground data, the environmental (mainly thermal) conditions of past marathon routes but most importantly by providing, real time information during the race on ambient thermal conditions
Analyzing, with the use of satellite and ground data, the environmental (mainly thermal) conditions of past marathon routes but most importantly by providing, real time information during the race on ambient thermal conditions.
This task aims to contribute to the objectives of sub2hrs project by analyzing, with the use of satellite and ground data, the environmental (mainly thermal) conditions of past marathon routes but most importantly by providing, with the use of satellite data, real time information during the race on ambient thermal conditions which change considerably along the route and with time.
In particular during this task, a novel application will be developed with the use of satellite data, and in conjunction with ground based data, so as to facilitate the operational use of extracted information regarding land surface and air temperatures along a route at temporal and spatial resolutions as high as 15 minutes and 1 km x 1km respectively. In practical terms, through the above application a series of near real time snapshots of the thermal environment along the route will be provided as well as detailed knowledge of the thermal characteristics at points along the remaining part of the route. The application will also allow the development of tailor- made products (given such as the thermal comfort and effort indicators (based on information on the thermal environment, relative humidity, the slope and elevation along the route, the type of materials on the ground, etc.)
For the purposes of sub2hrs project, the ground based infrastructure for the acquisition of satellite data of the National Observatory of Athens (NOA) will be used; satellite data from several missions will be also exploited in an effort to expand the geographic coverage of the applications. During the task, fine tuning of the methodologies will be promoted especially with respect to the link of land surface to air temperature, validations on the basis of historic data from previous marathon races and finally the preparation of contingency plans to overcome the difficulty that cloudy skies result in the acquaintance of data for the thermal environment at the ground.
Research work has been already initiated; in the following Figure, a representation (© IAASARS/NOA, 2015) is given regarding the prevailing land surface temperatures at specific points along the Marathon race in Beijing during the Olympic Games 2008. It should be mentioned that land surface temperature is an important parameter in the studies of urban thermal environment and dynamics. Land surface temperature modulates the air temperature of the lower layer of the atmosphere and is a primary factor in determining surface radiation and energy exchange, the internal climate in cities, and human comfort in the cities.
Professor Constantinos Cartalis from the Department of Environmental Physics of the University of Athens (UOA), Greece and former Secretary General for the Olympic Games 2004 at the Hellenic Ministry of Culture, and Senior Researcher Dr. Iphigenia Keramitsoglou from the Institute for Astronomy, Astrophysics, Space Applications and Remote Sensing (IAASARS) of the National Observatory of Athens, Greece, will act as co-chairs for this task. They both have experience in environmental and satellite-based technologies and applications, and have undertaken research within the DRAGON programme of the European Space Agency, to assess the use of satellite data in support of major sporting events (with case studies being the Olympic Games of Athens and Beijing).
Investigating the relationship between physiological responses when running below, at and above 2hr marathon pace and related psychological scales. Run by
Working towards the future development of distance running by actively seeking promising young runners and nurturing their running development from an early age with a view to even greater performances in the years ahead. Run by
Investigating the relationship between physiological responses when running below, at and above 2hr marathon pace and related psychological scales.
This work package will investigate the relationship between physiological responses (heart rate, HRV, lactate, respiration rate, running economy, etc.,) when running below, at and above 2hr marathon pace and related psychological scales.
Psychological scales will include both perceived physical and mental strain, since they can be experimentally dissociated, with perceived physical strain being the more accurate perceptual cue.
Working towards the future development of distance running by actively seeking promising young runners and nurturing their running development from an early age with a view to even greater performances in the years ahead.
The sub2hr project team will endeavour to not only improve the current world record by careful application of science, physiology and medical support to the best runners competing today, but also to work towards the future development of distance running and continued improvement in performance by actively seeking promising young runners and nurturing their running development from an early age with a view to even greater performances in the years ahead.
These runners will have suitably qualified physiologists and sports medical practitioners guiding their development along the lines that will be applied to the current sub2hr attempt i.e as outlined in the other work packages.
Liasing between the sub2hr team leaders and any media who wish to do an interview or press about the project. Run by
Liasing between the sub2hr team leaders and any media who wish to do an interview or press about the project.
This work package will deal with liasing between the sub2hr team leaders (Professors Yannis Pitsiladis and Andrew Bosch) and any media (written, radio and TV) who wish to do an interview about the project with either one of the team leaders, work package leaders, sponsors, or the athletes involved in the project.
This will include not only setting up of such an interview, etc, but also appropriate payment to the project. It will also involve management of the broadcast of events associated with the Sub2 attempts, scheduled programmes, television, etc.