Yesterday, May 2 2010, Jan Logemann from Germany has set a new world record on the marathon, with a time of 1:25:15. He did so in the German marathon unicycling championship, which piggybacks on the runners marathon of Düsseldorf (Germany). The previous record of 1:27:08 was set by Chuck Edwall (US) in the marathon of Unicon 14, Denmark, 2008. Three more riders undercut the old record: Knut Steffens (Germany), Sam Wakeling (UK) and Christian Armin (Germany). The course of the Düsseldorf marathon zigzags through the city. The weather during the race was slightly rainy, not too much wind, with a temperature of about 12 deg C.
More than 60 unicyclists took part in this marathon. The next edition is planned for May 8, 2011.
Note: the ‘netto’ time is based on the individual transponders we wore, starting each rider’s time when they crossed the start line whereas the ‘brutto’ time is the race time, started from the starting gun.
He was using 145mm cranks. I had 150s. Not sure about Knut, but he had 125s last year.
I find that on a Schlumpfed 36" under 40kph I don’t spin faster than I can happily do with 150s anyway, so there is no need to sacrifice the torque by going shorter. And going over 40kph isn’t an every day occurrence.
It is worth pointing out that I didn’t break any arms or ribs during the race…
Yes it was faster than I did in Switzerland. I think I did ok, I got tired on the last 10k and slowed down a lot. It is hard to train with a cast on as they smell when you do. Luckily I am getting a new one tomorrow.
Great event. I really enjoyed it. It was fantastically organised and I am already looking forward to going back next year. I am going to try and do it with nothing broken then.
Indeed, I actually had switched to 165mm cranks during my last runs with the geared 36er. 150s seemed to be the ideal size for most things, I couldn’t imagine using the 125s effectively in high gear, but I do remember that Arne and Jan used 125s during RTL.
Wow, looks like such a great event. Congratulations Jan and everyone. Very fast times. It’s nice to see so many people entered. How cool that Carl made it all the way from Canada. Love those finisher clips too. Here is Roger:
Unfortunately, my old eTrex Vista failed this time to capture any location data - last year it worked great. I think I allowed insufficient time for the cold start at the new location, and when I got moving it never got a satellite fix. Soon I’ll start using a new Vista HCx, which should work faster and generally better. Being the data freak that I am, I’d have loved to compare the two races in detail (this year I was 1 min 22 sec faster).
Oddly enough the aluminum crank is enough to register with the sensor, the crank magnet fell off long ago. Why it works with just the aluminum cranks baffles me since aluminum has very very weak magnetic properties, but it appears to work.
Wow, very fast times, and congratulations to all the unicyclists!
From some of the pics it looks like drafting helped a lot - is this true? I wonder if there should be separate records for racing with and without drafting? For example, the one-hour (and 24 hour) uni records are without drafting, at least for the most part.
How are bicycling records kept? Are there drafting rules when setting speed records? Are there two sets of records, one with drafting and one without?
In any case, blazing fast speed - great job to all you racers!
Thanks Steve! It was exhilarating to go that fast for that long. As we wound up in the last few kms I noticed cranking out of a 90 deg corner into a straight and quickly being at 34 kph - in tandem with Knut and Jan.
Yes, there are definitely differences between races and time-trials. That covers the distinction I think. In a race you have tactics, drafting, psychology, various course layouts etc. In a time trial it is just you against the clock. So, as a marathon is competed as a race, a ‘marathon’ record time is the fastest ever time in a marathon-distance race. A race is not a sterile thing. Some marathons will always be faster than others. In running there are certain cities where records are attempted and others where they wouldn’t expect to go for records.
The hour and 24 hour records are time trials, not races. That makes them as closely comparable to each other as possible. They must be done without drafting and on a level course. When I did the 24hr I sometimes had people keep me company but they always rode along side or behind, to prevent unfair advantage.
If you set out to do 42.125km as a time-trial you could set a time for a rather obscure time trial distance, but it wouldn’t qualify you to claim a marathon record in any normal sense.
