October 2019. Then fifty-nine-year old Tommy Hughes just finished the Frankfurt Marathon with a stunning single-age world record time of 2:27:52. Less than four minutes later, the Irishman’s son Eoin crossed the line as well, with a time of 2:31:30. With their combined time of 4:59:22, they earned a spot in the Guinness World Record book for the fastest father-son duo.
Their performances also got them into the Journal of Applied Physiology, which last month published the results of a series of physiological tests on them by a research team led by Romuald Lepers of the University of Bourgogne Franche-Comté in France, working with colleagues at the University of Toulon and Liverpool John Moores University in Britain. The data yields some insights into what makes the elder Hughes unique, and perhaps offers a note of optimism for the rest of us.
What did the scientists find out about Tommy's body? What can we learn from his physiology? And what does the data tell us? The answers to these questions over at Outside Online.
(Image Credit: Deep RiverRock Belfast City Marathon/ Facebook)