Kipsang number
n. The maximum distance a person could run at the average pace used by Wilson Kipsang while setting the marathon world record.
Examples
2015
I love the idea of a Kipsang number too. That kind of thinking could apply in a lot of places.
—Russell Davies, “Sport writing talking,” Russell Davies, September 06, 2015
2015
My "Kipsang number" is probably about the same as Gladwell's, around 1,400m
—Adharanand Finn, “My 'Kipsang number'…,” Twitter, August 27, 2015
2015
@ClaraHughes_ But what's your Kipsang number? I think I'd have 200m. Then I'd need oxygen.
—Matt Galloway, “But what's…,” Twitter, August 26, 2015
2015 (earliest)
Back when Wilson Kipsang set the world record (which was then promptly broken), my running friends and I came up with the “Kipsang number,” which represented how long could you keep up with Wilson Kipsang while he was running twenty-six miles. I am a devoted runner and my Kipsang number is less than a mile. …The average, healthy, athletic, American, twenty-two-year old varsity athlete in a sport other than track probably has a Kipsang number of between 400 and 800 metres. To recap: you could keep up with him for a quarter of a mile, then you would collapse in exhaustion.
—Malcolm Gladwell, “Mo Farah, Usain Bolt, and the World Championships,” The New Yorker, August 24, 2015
Notes
For the record, when Wilson Kipsang set the marathon world record of 2:03:23 in 2013, his average pace was 4:43 per mile, or just a bit under 71 seconds per quarter mile. (For the metrically minded, his pace works out to about 2:55 per kilometre.) You could also talk about your "Kimetto number," since the current marathon world record holder is Dennis Kimetto, who ran 2:02:57 in last year's Berlin marathon (4:42 per mile). The last six (!) marathon world records have been set at Berlin, so will we see a new "Insert name here number" after this year's run on September 27?
Posted: September 23, 2015