All tagged sports

19 of the 20 fastest marathon times ever belong to runners from Kenya and Ethiopia. Here’s why.

Of the 100 fastest marathon times in history, 89 belong to runners from Kenya or Ethiopia. Furthermore, of the top 20 fastest times, 19 have been run by athletes from this region. What is it about the runners from these two East African countries that makes them superior at long-distance events? 

In 2019, the global average time for this 26.2-mile race was 4:32:39, which is equivalent to a speed of about 10 minutes and 34 seconds per mile. The fastest officially recognized time¹, recently run by the late Kenyan distance runner Kelvin Kiptum, was 2:00:35, a staggering pace of exactly 4 minutes and 36 seconds per mile. This is a near full-on sprint for 26.2 miles. The marathon is not a sport that requires extensive finesse, strategy, or athleticism; it is a test of endurance – of how much one can push one's body – and at the highest level, with everybody pushing themselves to the absolute limit, there must be a scientific reason for why Kenyans and Ethiopians have unequivocally dominated the sport. 

Sports Bettors Have Become Traders, and Stocks Are Rising, But Can It Last?

The coronavirus pandemic and ensuing global lockdown has impacted our lives in more ways than we can imagine. Some of the effects have been quite obvious, such as the transition to online learning for students or the inability to attend large scale events like movies or concerts. Other effects, however, have been less apparent, and are still not yet fully known. Perhaps one of the most novel pieces of fallout from the coronavirus on society within the last few weeks is the migration of gamblers and sports betters into the stock market as more conventional wagering methods remain inaccessible. With sports betting alone being a $150 billion industry in 2019, the shift of much of this money into stocks has had major effects on market behaviors. This wave of bullish sentiment from “entertainment investors” has contributed significantly to the recent rebound of stock indexes like the NASDAQ and the Dow. However, as coronavirus cases and related deaths continue to rise, the gap between stock prices from the overall health of the economy has continued to grow, leading to increased volatility within markets.