Going the distance
Unexpected Elements
BBC
4.4 • 567 Ratings
🗓️ 22 February 2024
⏱️ 51 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
A scientific tribute to to the successes and potential of Kelvin Kiptum, the best marathon runner to ever take to the roads. Marnie and the team take time to reflect on the tragic loss after Kelvin's death and looks at the science behind his record breaking performances.
Why do East African long distance runners continue to dominate the world stage? Can one group of indigenous people in the state of Chihuahua in Mexico, really run 100km without getting tired? And what makes you fall off the back of a treadmill when you just can't keep going? Is the limiting factor in endurance sports found in the body or the mind?
We also hear how one small insect is having a mighty impact on African ecosystems, and Marnie ponders the future of AI. What happens when we are no longer able to trust our eyes and ears in a world of deepfakes.
Presenter: Marnie Chesterton, with Philistian Mwatee and Tristan Ahtone Producer: Harrison Lewis, with Dan Welsh, Tom Bonnett, Katie Tomsett and Jack Lee
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Oh, hello. You have chosen a BBC podcast, but before you listen to it, we thought you might |
| 0:04.7 | like our podcast too. You might. You might. It is called Sightracked with me, Nick Grimshaw. |
| 0:09.2 | And me, Annie Mack. And we talk about the week in music. All the news, all the cultural |
| 0:14.0 | happenings in the UK and beyond. And great guests. And it's on BBC Sounds. Yes, where you can |
| 0:19.7 | also enjoy lots of playlists, music mixes, and |
| 0:22.6 | live radio. Everything from my six music breakfast show to Radio 3 Unwind. But obviously, |
| 0:28.9 | start with our podcast, sidetrack. Obviously. Obviously. So if you like music, listen on BBC |
| 0:33.7 | Sounds. We lost our humanity. We lost our dignity. |
| 0:38.8 | We got punished for something we did not do. |
| 0:41.4 | Amazing sports stories from the BBC World Service tells the story of The Black 14. |
| 0:46.5 | Our young lives were flipped upside down. |
| 0:49.0 | Search for amazing sports stories wherever you get your BBC podcasts. |
| 0:55.2 | So this week, I broke my New Year's resolution, which was to not do New Year's resolutions. |
| 1:03.2 | You know, the ones people hit hard in early January with a new year, new me attitude. |
| 1:09.5 | Having spent January avoiding self-improving exercise and watching those |
| 1:14.2 | doing dry January with a delicious glass of red wine in hand, I can't avoid it anymore. It's diet time. |
| 1:21.9 | Many major religions go through a period of fasting around now. But my motivation is far less spiritual. |
| 1:29.8 | I'm making a science show about a marker of health called the BMI |
| 1:33.9 | and horror of horrors. |
| 1:35.7 | I'm going to be weighed on the World Service. |
| 1:38.9 | I'm Marnie Chesterton from the BBC World Service. |
| 1:41.8 | This is Unexpected Elements. |
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