On the Mark: Experts

tell us

Marginal Gains

Are we finally beginning to see an end to the race to produce equipment and training techniques designed to inch out incremental improvements in performance? Not according to the manufacturers, coaches, and researchers who continuously spend time and resources finding ways to squeeze out that extra 1 percent improvement. Will all these marginal gains eventually add up to one big gain? Based on my observations and experiences, these advances will not likely add up to one big gain, but rather, I believe the marginal gains will continue to add up slowly over many years. The benefit of these marginal gains is that they distribute the incremental improvements across the total population of runners, not just the elite. This democratization of the sport benefits everyone.

Equipment Design

In the past, the athlete-equipment interface was very crude. Shoes were basically leather and nails. Runners today enjoy lightweight, shock-absorbing, and highly engineered shoes. Clothes are engineered to breathe. Track surfaces are measured with laser precision. These advances in equipment all contribute toward improving athletic performance—marginal improvements that add up over time. And the great news is that the average runner benefits from these marginal gains as much or more than the elite runner.

Marginal Gain: Positive

David Sipes, Ph.D., is a research exercise physiologist and the director of sports medicine research at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. He has run 49 marathons and presently resides in Boulder, Colorado.