I remember when I ran a marathon before, many people said that "a half marathon is not a horse", referring to a half marathon, which is not a marathon at all!
At that time, when I heard someone say this, I was quite angry, because why is a half marathon not a marathon?
If you can run 21 kilometers, why can't you call a half-marathon? I feel that the group of people who say that half a marathon is not a horse have a sense of arrogance on them, as if they feel that they have a unique sense of superiority in running a marathon.
This is quite unfriendly to many beginner runners or first-time half-marathon runners!
From a practical marathon point of view: is a half marathon really not a marathon?
The origin of the 42.195 kilometers of the whole marathon, I believe that everyone knows the origin of its story, so I will not tell them one by one here, let's first talk about how the 21.0975 kilometers of the half marathon came about?
When was the first half marathon held, according to historical records, there is no exact time record, but according to the description of the half marathon on the official website of the IAAF, it first emerged in the 50s of the last century, because the event organization saw the demand for sports, so they created a new event, that is, the half marathon.
Therefore, the half marathon should be a derivative of the whole marathon, in order to meet the needs of more mass runners for long-distance races.
To be precise, most of the runners in the market want to challenge the long distance in the form of a race, but the whole marathon is too long to complete, so there is a half marathon.
Since the project was put into the market, the popularity and acceptance of this project have even surpassed that of the whole marathon, so that the market is the same today, basically the half marathon competitors are higher than the whole marathon runners.
However, although they are both called "horses", they are very different!
First of all, the Half Marathon does not have the commemorative significance of the whole marathon project itself, and it is missing in connotation.
Secondly, in terms of the difficulty of running, the whole marathon is not just as simple as two and a half marathons, it is completely two different endurance distances, although many friends say that they prefer half marathons, but more often they can't run the whole marathon at all.
The difficulty coefficient is not a level at all, which I believe can be understood by runners who have run half marathon and full marathon, and the more half marathon you go, the more difficult it becomes, both in terms of usual training and strategy during the race, it is a big difference.
We often say that the real start of a marathon starts after 30 kilometers, because after 30 kilometers, basically the glycogen in the body will be depleted, and at this time, you need strong willpower to support yourself, otherwise it is easy to "hit the wall", that is, run and collapse.
And this feeling is a major challenge for a runner, both physically and psychologically.
In the sense of the marathon, the last 12 kilometers are the true essence of the marathon, and it is also the place to distinguish the strengths and weaknesses of a runner, which cannot be experienced on a half-marathon course.
This also symbolizes the true meaning of the 42.195 kilometers of "marathon", which is a higher standard of sports, and the half marathon does not have this height at all, and in a sense, the half marathon does not have this standard.
Therefore, there is still a gap in the half marathon, and it can only be said that it is very good to be able to run half a marathon, at least it has laid a long-distance foundation for running the whole marathon.
Do you think "half a marathon is a marathon"?
Welcome to leave a message to share.
Love to run, love life. Welcome to follow Xiaofangshuo Running and share more running information for you!