Mark Dowdeswell

17 x Comrades (#4670) + 36 other ultramarathons, 53 marathons. Eternal student. African. Joint Guinness World Record holder. Statistician.

[Mark Dowdeswell @mrdowdeswell]

Some #ComradesMarathon2023 statistics for all those of you with withdrawal symptoms (don't worry, next year's achey legs will be back soon enough).

16126 runners set out in the cold from the Pietermaritzburg City Hall this year. Some heard Max Trimborn's crow, some didn't...

[Mark Dowdeswell @mrdowdeswell]

🤔

The 2024 @ComradesRace Up run was 85.91km and was won by Gerda Steyn in 5:49:46.

There are technical requirements for world records (for good reason). Nevertheless, point-to-point, yes, but no prevailing wind and substantial net elevation gain.

[iRunFar @iRunFar]

Congratulations to Finland's Satu Lipiäinen for setting a new women's 6-hour world record of 85.712km (53.258 mi)!

This bests Nele Alder-Baerens' prior record by a scant 234 meters. https://t.co/8NeT1lVPYj

[Mark Dowdeswell @mrdowdeswell]

My legs also feel stopped 1h56m17s into a marathon.

[CITIUS MAG @CitiusMag]

🗣️ “Before 41K, I’m enjoying it, relaxed and my body is all great. Exactly at 41K, my body is stuck. I finished my power. I tried to push but my legs were stopped.”

We all hit the wall in our first marathon. Yomif Kejelcha didn’t hit it until 41K and STILL managed to break two hours in his FIRST marathon. 1:59:41 at the London Marathon!

🎥 Full interview with Kejelcha on the CITIUS MAG YouTube channel: https://t.co/qvevhoI2uR

[Mark Dowdeswell @mrdowdeswell]

@Scienceofsport And (I think) that step change has been greatly iterated and refined. Go to a lab/test track with 50 shoe variations on a factorial design and test for RE. Iterate.

Maybe you can make almost any individual a “responder”? Could anyone tell the shoe isn’t exactly “off-the-shelf”?

[Mark Dowdeswell @mrdowdeswell]

@runningmann100 My five cents: no. The final cutoffs (at Oceans and Comrades) are very generous, and both races are big enough to not need to assuage the non-finisher.

[P.S. I did think this year’s Sainsbury medals were a bit plain; they used to be fairly distinctive.]

[Mark Dowdeswell @mrdowdeswell]

@runningmann100 @RaceSpaceSA Congrats, Stuart!

[Mark Dowdeswell @mrdowdeswell]

@runningmann100 Nothing like hitting 40 to focus the mind (although it wasn’t enough to propel me sufficiently fast)!

[Mark Dowdeswell @mrdowdeswell]

@runningmann100 Eh. Had a mechanical at 30km (hamstring) but was fun before that; one of the last guys I passed finished in 3h03m so there are some signs.

Weather was very forgiving. Drizzle the night before and that slight breeze helped a lot. I could imagine this could be a super hot run.

[Mark Dowdeswell @mrdowdeswell]

@runningmann100 Mexico City is higher altitude (~2200m ASL) and the course record there is Hector Garibuy’s 2:08:23 in 2023.

*Mexico City is somewhat infamous for the amount of cheating there…

[Mark Dowdeswell @mrdowdeswell]

@AlexKontorovich Since I’m “following along” and you asked (end of Level 2), I still gravitate to natural language version since:
1) familiar - how I was taught analysis,
2) mathematical notation has a degree of intrinsic aesthetic appeal, and
3) still grappling with applying lean syntax.

[Mark Dowdeswell @mrdowdeswell]

@runningmann100 There is likely a strong selection effect here that explains this: you can’t finish with a fastest split late in the race if you’re DNF. I’d surmise that most of this trend will disappear when DNFs are included (or total numbers rather than % are shown).

[Mark Dowdeswell @mrdowdeswell]

@iCyclone Presume you’re familiar with Google’s experimental cyclone forecast model. Would be interesting to see how well it manages wobbles close to landfall.

https://t.co/EIaSVpc1SG

[Mark Dowdeswell @mrdowdeswell]

@fijnmin I presume it was just happenstance but it is such an odd sequence it almost seems to be a vendetta.

[Mark Dowdeswell @mrdowdeswell]

Textbook resolution of longstanding vendetta on live television.

[Mark Dowdeswell @mrdowdeswell]

Probably no one cares any longer but it is “Polly Shortts” and “Arthur’s Seat”.

[SuperSport 🏆 @SuperSportTV]

The 90km route that lays ahead for runners of the 2025 @ComradesRace 😮‍💨

#Comrades2025

[Mark Dowdeswell @mrdowdeswell]

@mshengulala There is enough space in the sun for everyone! 🤷‍♂️

[Mark Dowdeswell @mrdowdeswell]

This sentiment belies the facts somewhat.

The list of top marathon runners that have won Comrades (without doping) is quite short.

The list of top marathon runners that have placed nowhere at Comrades is quite long.

[adam lipschitz @adamlipschitz]

REMINDER:

We are just 2 weeks away from the comrades marathon where all those “top elite runners and coaches” who were never able to make it in the marathon or lower distances get there “weekend of fame”

Most couldn’t even win their local park run to be fair.

[Mark Dowdeswell @mrdowdeswell]

A run streak is a performance.

(2103 days, 20003.4km and counting)

[Rory Linkletter, OLY @ThePapaLinks]

If you’re serious about performance you shouldn’t have a run streak.

[Mark Dowdeswell @mrdowdeswell]

@CyrilRamaphosa Why have you been “standing by and watching”…for so long? 😔