People taking part in next year’s Brighton Marathon are being offered a chance to improve their time.
Brighton University researchers in the Marathon Support Unit (MSU) want to test their assessment programme and enable students to help so that they can gain practical experience.
Sport scientist Alex Bliss said: “The assessment programme gives marathon runners a better understanding of the physiological processes and markers that constitute fitness, allowing them to train more intelligently as well as providing a sensible and realistic target finish time.”
He said the MSU offers a consultation on participants’ current training to help identify areas for improvement and laboratory-based fitness assessments which create precise data to help them improve.
One runner, Dave Rogers, used the MSU last year and went on to beat his personal best by 15 minutes at the Brighton Marathon.
He said: “I found it very useful. It gave me the science behind the theory and provided me with a focus.”
The MSU predicted within two minutes the finishing time for another Brighton Marathon runner, Tom Morris.
He said: “The MSU was a thorough education in how to train effectively using concrete reference points.”
The MSU will hold an open day on Saturday 20 October. Visit www.brighton.ac.uk/marathonsupport.
