Marathon times and super-shoes

On the record

Sir, – As an ancient marathoner, I look askance at the plethora of running records that have been broken (some by almost unbelievably large amounts) following the decision of World Athletics to permit the wearing of the so-called super-shoe in competitions.

Shortly after these shoes came on the scene, World Athletics banned their use in competitions, stating “they were distorting the record books”. Then in January last year the super-shoes were unbanned but with a few provisos, the main one being that the thickness of the heel material be no greater than 40mm. The big sports equipment companies who produce these shoes have a lot of financial and political clout and we can expect that those provisos will get watered down in the future, resulting in another plethora of world records.

And on and on it will go until eventually World Athletics will sanction the wearing of roller-skates. – Yours, etc,

MICK BOURKE,

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Clane,

Co Kildare.