Two runners have gone under 43.5 this season. The track, the shoes and the schedule all say why, and none of them is the runner.
The track
Both times came on the same surface — a harder, thinner track laid for this season that returns more energy on the bend than anything the record was set on.
The shoes
Spikes with a plate, legal since the rule change, worth somewhere between a tenth and a quarter of a second over a lap depending on who is measuring.
// The record in numbers
43.29
The mark
40
Years it has stood
2
Runners inside 43.5 this year
The schedule
Three meets in nine days on the same track, which is either a coincidence or the most obvious record attempt ever organised.
