iStockphoto / ULU_BIRD / falun
a pair of jeans superimposed in front of a group of marathon runners
Russian long distance runner Iskander Yadgarov has set a new world record for the fastest marathon ever ran while wearing jeans. He accomplished this feat over the weekend at the Porto Marathon where he finished in 11th place overall.
Iskander Yadgarov dominated the Porto Marathon course in his jeans, finishing in a time of 2:28.29 which breaks out to around a 5:39/mile split.
Iskander Yadgarov Sets World Record For Fastest Marathon Ran While Wearing Jeans
Participation in marathons is at an all-time high. The NYC Marathon just set a record with 61,146 finishers which marked the first time a marathon has had over 60,000 finishers.
This has driven a veritable arms race among athletics gear companies with untold amounts of money invested in super shoes, moisture-wicking materials, and what everyone claims is the ‘fastest’ running apparel on the planet. Then this dude shows up in jeans and destroys nearly the entire 15,000-runner field in Porto.
Anyone who has ever experienced heavy sweating while wearing jeans knows exactly why it is ill-advised to run an entire marathon in jeans: chafing. The denim material can lead to catastrophic chafing when wet and when are you sweating more than during a marathon? There is also a range of motion consideration but that could be mitigated with sizing.
Now imagine you are one of the runners in the Elite wave of the marathon and someone is chasing you down wearing jeans en route to a new world record:
Who runs in jeans?!
With a finishing chip time of 2:28.39, Yadgarov set the new marathon world record while wearing jeans with a split time of 3:31/kilometer. And I know what you might be thinking, is the ‘ran a marathon in jeans’ world really that competitive? Yes, yes it is.
Truett Hanes ran the Austin Marathon back in February in a time of 2:36:56 while wearing jeans. His split time of 3:45/km in full denim jeans is faster than many people will even run a mile.
I guess Iskander Yadgarove is just built different. He finished the Berlin Marathon, one of the Abbott World Majors marathons, in a time of 2:29.59 while wearing crocs!
Imagine spending hundreds and hundreds of dollars on ‘super shoes’ with a carbon plate only to get passed by some guy wearing Crocs who is running at the speed of light.
Now the challenge goes out to all of you. Who can beat his world record for the fastest marathon ever ran while wearing jeans? Surely one of you will give it a shot, right?!