The two-hour marathon is a little like the four-minute mile was 57 years ago, before Roger Bannister broke the mark.  An impossibility according to some; a distant accomplishment to others.

But our analysis shows that a sub two-hour marathon is possible this fall if runners examine how they run, rather than concentrating exclusively on how they train.

Several myths that have gained credence among otherwise intelligent athletes, coaches and scientists are that African runners dominate middle and long distance races because of genetic gifts, running to school as kids, and being born and trained at high altitudes.

When we actually measure how Africans run, however, we see that their success is largely due to superior stride efficiency, and not some unobtainable inborn talent or special childhood experiences. Our analysis further shows that if American and UK runners are willing to improve their efficiency, they can run the marathon under two hours this autumn, mainly because they are already much more fit than their African counterparts.

It’s all a matter of examining assumptions.

Take, for instance, the strenuousness of the marathon. It is assumed to be due to the horizontal distance of 26.2 miles. But even mere mortals can easily walk, bike or rollerblade this distance without fatigue.

It turns out that it is the vertical distance of the marathon that makes it so grueling.

I’m not talking about the slight changes in elevation on a non-flat course. I’m talking about the vertical distance every marathoner runs during the marathon.

Every runner bounces up and down while running. This bounce can be anywhere from half-to-four inches. Since runners take 1,000 strides per mile, any bounce will be multiplied 26,200 times during a race.

Let’s say a runner bounces up four inches with each stride. Multiplied 26,200 times, this adds up to 8,725 feet or 1.65 vertical miles. This is equal to 6.4 former World Trade Center buildings, or 2.6 Mount Snowdens! That’s a lot of work, and would tire anyone of any level of physical fitness - even Haile Gebrselassie (pictured).

But there’s more. What goes up must come down. So a runner with a four inch bounce drops down four inches with each stride, adding another 8,725 vertical feet, or 1.65 vertical miles, 6.4 World Trade Center buildings, or 2.6 Mount Snowdens. As any runner will tell you, running uphill is hard on the heart, but running downhill is much harder on the legs. With just a four inch bounce, our elite marathoner is running a total additional 3.3 vertical miles.

Imagine if he reduced his bounce to just one inch, as Gebrselassie's compatriot, Belayneh Densamo, did at Rotterdam in 1988 when he ran 2 hours 06min 50sec - a world record that lasted 10 years. 

It means Densamo did quarter of the work that our hard-working and exhausted modern marathoner is doing. When quizzed about how he felt at the end of his marathon, Densamo responded that he felt like he could run another five miles.

If our modern runner reduced his bounce to one inch, he would "only" run a total of .83 vertical miles, putting him well under two hours for the marathon.

But there are other problems as well, which you can see here.

Unfortunately, we find there is little interest on the part of coaches, runners or sports scientists to improve stride efficiency. Instead, the emphasis has been entirely on training. This completely ignores the fact that most of the current UK middle-distance runners, for instance, actually have a smaller stride angle (maximum opening between the front and trailing legs, and the major determinant of speed) than Sebastian Coe or Steve Cram did 26 years ago when they dominated their events. You can see our analysis of UK runners here.

If the UK does not change its emphasis from training to efficiency, chances are excellent that it will host a wonderful party in 2012 and glumly watch their ungrateful guests abscond with all the gold and silverware.

Bob Prichard is the President of Somax Sports Corporation. He is the author of "The Efficient Golfer" - he first golf book to show readers how to use their home camcorder to videotape, measure, analyse and improve their swing mechanics -and he developed and patented the Somax Power Hip Trainer, the first aerobic exercise machine to increase the strength and speed of hip rotation for golf, tennis, football and swimming