Doubling

Hello! Welcome back to Footprint.

Happy Friday from LA, where I’ve spent the past few days attempting to run my way through jet lag. I failed, but crammed in some spectacular runs along the Santa Monica shoreline while trying.

For years, the world’s biggest races have been getting bigger. The London Marathon now looks set to almost double in size.

Organizers are in advanced talks to hold a two-day event in 2027, Sean Ingle reports in the Guardian, setting the stage for a one-off weekend that would boost the race from a record 56,540 finishers last year to 100,000.

This would be unprecedented: more runners than ever before taking part in the same marathon, over the same weekend.

London attracted an extraordinary 1.1 million applications for this year’s race. New York Road Runners, organizers of the New York City Marathon, reported more than 240,000 applicants.

With the vast majority of applications unsuccessful, moving to two days would allow more people to participate.

“The TCS London Marathon is the world’s most ­popular mara­thon,” Hugh Brasher, its chief executive, told the Guardian, “and we are always ­exploring innovative ways to enable more people to take part and to deliver positive benefits for London.”

Georgia Hunter Bell led a golden weekend for Great Britain at the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Poland, winning the women’s 1500m. Keely Hodgkinson also won the women’s 800m, while Josh Kerr won the men’s 3000m.

As recently as two years ago, Alison Wade writes in Fast Women, Hunter Bell was begging meet directors to let her into races. Not any more.

A phenomenal run in the Olympic 1500m final saw her leave France with bronze in 2024. She followed up with silver in the 800m at the World Athletics Outdoor Championships in Japan last fall. Now she’s world indoor champion over 1500m.

Hunter Bell put her latest victory down to “a game of patience, belief and courage,” writing: “I have failed before. But this one was only ending one way.”

Another week; another social media outcry. Top marathoner Emma Bates announced she is no longer an ambassador for UCAN, the fueling company. Bates was dropped, she said, after disclosing she was pregnant.

Facing a torrent of criticism, UCAN denied the partnership ended because Bates was pregnant, describing this as a “mischaracterization”. “Supporting female athletes through all journeys, including pregnancy, is central to our mission,” it said in a post.

Beyond the backlash, Bates announced her exit by listing five gel brands that she likes (and is not paid to promote). “I have spent hundreds of dollars trying to figure out some of the best ones out there so you don’t have to,” she wrote:

A young French Navy officer went for a run earlier this month – and made headlines around the world.

He ran around the deck of the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier, in middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and logged it on Strava.

The workout was found by the Le Monde newspaper, which has repeatedly raised concerns about “security flaws” with the fitness app.

USA Track & Field moved to clean up the fallout from this year’s US Half Marathon Championships, where the three leaders were inadvertently led off course by the lead vehicle. They lost their spots on the podium, and did not technically qualify for the World Road Running Championships.

The trio – Jess McClain, Emma Grace Hurley and Ednah Kurgat – will make the team, after all. They are set to travel to Copenhagen in September after World Athletics granted USATF an additional three spots.

“From the moment this happened, our focus was on doing right by the athletes,” said USATF CEO Max Siegel. “Jessica, Emma Grace, and Ednah had clearly separated themselves in the race and we are sorry they did not get to celebrate their accomplishment by breaking the tape.”

I’ve spent a bit too much time on planes lately, which has given me the chance to read a load of interesting things about running. Here are some highlights:

⛰ With Surprise Chianti Win, Courtney Dauwalter Reigns On • When her ultramarathon got canceled three days out, the legendary ultramarathoner pivoted – and clinched a thrilling victory, Abby Levene reports for Outside Run

⏱ The art and science of pacing • Alex Hutchinson breaks down a new paper which makes the case that pacing lights really are helping runners go faster

❤ For The Love Of Running • After shifting away from a focus on bigger, further and faster, Max Auer writes how letting go of all that didn’t make him a worse runner, but a better one