Film room

Twenty-six case studies

Runners worth studying, and the specific thing each one is evidence for. Every profile is factual and drawn from the public record. Where a performance carries an asterisk, this says so rather than leaving it out.

• 1:59:40Eliud KipchogeMarathon · 2003 onwardThe most rehearsed race in the sport's history, run by a man who says the mind is what carries the legs.Checkpoints 01 · 05 · 09
• 2:24:52Joan Benoit SamuelsonMarathon · 1979 onwardSeventeen days from knee surgery to the Olympic trials, and she won them.Checkpoint 01
• 3:59.4Roger BannisterThe mile · 1950sA barrier described for years as physiological turned out to be something else.Checkpoint 01
• 3:26.00Hicham El Guerrouj1500m and the mile · 1990s–2004Records that have stood since the nineties, built by a man who lost the two races he wanted most.Checkpoint 02
• 2:18:47Catherine NderebaMarathon · 1990s–2000sFour Boston titles, built by running the same system again every season.Checkpoint 02
• 3 medalsSifan Hassan1500m to the marathon · 2010s onwardAn outcome goal big enough to sound unreasonable, then broken into a schedule.Checkpoint 02
• 2:03:59Haile Gebrselassie5000m to the marathon · 1990s–2010sTwo decades at the top, made almost entirely out of coming back.Checkpoint 03
• 4thSteve PrefontaineDistance track · Late 1960s–1975Raced to find the limit rather than to manage the result.Checkpoint 03
• 2:39:54Des LindenMarathon · 2000s onwardSpent the early miles expecting to drop out, and won.Checkpoint 03
• 4 goldsMo Farah5000m and 10,000m · 2010sRacing chess, played at four-minute-mile pace.Checkpoint 04
• 2017Shalane FlanaganMarathon · 2000s–2010sPatience made visible, then total commitment once the race turned.Checkpoint 04
• 1500mJakob Ingebrigtsen1500m and 5000m · 2020sAlmost none of his racing is improvised.Checkpoint 04
• Rio 2016Gwen JorgensenTriathlon, then the marathon · 2010s onwardAn accountant who took up triathlon and systematised her way to gold.Checkpoint 05
• 43.18Michael Johnson200m and 400m · 1990sRehearsed races in fine detail long before running them, down to the splits.Checkpoint 05
• BronzeDeena KastorMarathon · 2000sRebuilt her career on deliberately changing what she said to herself.Checkpoints 06 · 09
• 8,848mKilian JornetMountain and ultra running · 2000s onwardRedefined how fast a mountain can be moved over, calmly.Checkpoint 06
• BarefootAbebe BikilaMarathon · 1960sWon the Olympic marathon barefoot, then won the next one too.Checkpoint 06
• 9.58Usain Bolt100m and 200m · 2000s–2010sVisibly relaxed in the most pressurised ninety seconds in sport.Checkpoint 07
• 2:15:25Paula RadcliffeMarathon · 1990s–2000sCounted to keep her head in the race, and said so.Checkpoint 07
• 9 winsGrete WaitzMarathon and cross country · 1970s–1980sWon New York nine times, having never run a marathon before the first one.Checkpoint 07
• 3 goldsEmil Zátopek5000m to the marathon · 1940s–1950sWon the 5000m, the 10,000m and a marathon he had never run before, in one Games.Checkpoints 08 · 10
• 2014Meb KeflezighiMarathon · 2000s–2010sWon Boston at 38, with the names of the victims written on his bib.Checkpoint 08
• 3 in 10 wksCourtney DauwalterUltrarunning · 2010s onwardGoes looking for the pain cave on purpose, and has furnished it.Checkpoint 08
• MunichFrank ShorterMarathon · 1970sThe win that started the American running boom, executed exactly as planned.Checkpoint 09
• 261Kathrine SwitzerMarathon · 1960s onwardFinished the race an official tried to physically remove her from.Checkpoint 10
• 2:54:48Ed WhitlockMarathon, in his seventies and eighties · 1990s–2010sRan a sub-three marathon at 73, in laps of a cemetery.Checkpoint 10