There is no doubt we are in a grand era of women’s ascendancy in many fields. Their goals are lofty. Their dreams have been long denied, and now they have spring-loaded, eager to make up for lost time. 

But Mother Nature makes the rules and they apply evenly across all barriers, including sex.

When Eliud Kipchoge and his shoe company embarked on their epic Breaking2 Project in 2017, the men’s marathon world record stood at 2:02:57, run in Berlin 2014 by countryman Dennis Kimetto in the pre-Super Shoes era. 

Kipchoge’s goal, 1:59:59, was 2.41% below Kimetto’s world record. On that morning in Monza, Italy, Eliud ran 2:00:25, just 26 seconds shy of his mark, one tantalizing second per mile. But he had come close enough to allow people–himself included–to believe that sub-2 was possible. 

Two years later, in Vienna, Austria, he accomplished the history-making goal, running over 42.195 kilometers in 1:59:40.

When Faith Kipyegon stepped to the line at Stade Sébastien Charléty in Paris today with her 13 pacers, her goal of 3:59.99 in the 1-mile run represented a lowering of her own mile world record—4:07.64—by 3.13%, a goal 26% greater than Kipchoge had in Monza. Beyond that, Faith is the only woman in history to have run sub—4:12 for the 1-mile. The difference between Hassan’s previous world record, 4:12.33, to 3:59.99, is 4.89%!

In Zürich, on 14 August 1996, Russia’s Svetlana Masterkova ran 4:12.56 for the mile. That time stood for just under 23 years until Sifan Hassan scraped a mere 0.22 seconds off it in Monaco in July 2019.

Faith broke that record in Monaco on 21 July 2023 at 4:07.64, nearly 5 seconds better than the second best time in history, which was only .22 seconds faster than a time which lasted nearly a quarter century! And now we were looking for another 7.65 second reduction just two years after the latest world record?

I don’t care how good your super shoes are, or your slick, new speed suit, or how well arrayed your pacers were, Mother Nature always prevails, and did again today.

Plus, 26.2 miles is such a long span, it allows a much greater margin. Four minutes is a relative sprint in comparison and we can see how the last lap of 65.07 seconds—after the first three of 60.20, 60.55, and 61.09–evidenced her body’s rebellion against the strain being placed upon it. 

No shine off Faith, though. She still managed to shave 0.73 seconds off her official world record. All her records and medals speak for themselves. And it took courage to make this attempt. But after watching the hype and then the show, I came away thinking this was the athletic equivalent of Clickbait. 

After watching Eliud in Monza, the sense was, yes, it could be done—a sub-2 hour marathon was possible with the proper conditions. But after Paris today, we—at least, I—didn’t come away thinking a sub-4-minute mile is imminent for women. In fact, it seems to have quite a long way to go.

The Supremes once sang, You Can’t Hurry Love. You just have to wait. I guess there’s more you can’t hurry, besides love.

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