It looks as though we might be approaching a whole new frontier when it come to marathon running. Fresh after Eliud Kipchoge's brilliant sub 2 hour run, Brigid Kosgei has smashed the women's world record. It's still to be ratified, but stopping the clock in 2:14:04 was an amazing result.
I can't remember the details, but many moons ago I read that women were better able to adapt to distance events. I don't think they mentioned at the time that women would end up being faster than men in endurance events, but I do recall that the article said that women would rapidly close the game between the sexes. That statement has stuck with me for decades. So over time, I've kept half an eye on the situation. And sure enough, it's happening. And the women are closing in fast.
In the last 50 odd years, men have taken roughly 8 minutes off their record, while the women have taking a whopping 53 minutes off theirs. If Kosgei's time is ratified, there will now only 12:25 between the records.