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On Saturday, October 12, Eluid Kipchoge accomplished a feat that’s akin to scaling Mt. Everest for the first time. The 34-year-old Kenyan man ran the fastest 26.2 miles ever by clocking in at 1:59:40 on a course in Vienna. This makes him the first person to ever run a marathon distance in under two hours. To break that down, that means he ran each mile in under four minutes and 34 seconds a staggering 26 times in a row.
Kipchoge spoke of his accomplishment as a step forward for all humanity. “It is a great feeling to make history in sport after Sir Roger Bannister [set the first sub-four-minute mile] in 1954,” Kipchoge said in a statement. “I am the happiest man in the world to be the first human to run under two hours and I can tell people that no human is limited. I expect more people all over the world to run under two hours after today.”
To achieve this amazing feat, Kipchoge had the help of others to assist him in reaching his goal. The course he ran was chosen after software determined that it had ideal racing factors for environmental conditions of temperature, humidity, wind speed, and elevation. His route included a 1.2K (about three-quarters of a mile) run from the Reichsbrücke Bridge to the Praterstern roundabout where he then completed four flat 9.6K (just under six miles) laps as well as a final stretch to reach a marathon distance.
Pacers were a big part of Kipchoge’s race strategy. It’s not unusual for someone to have a pace group—even for amateur road racers—and Kipchoge had the best of the best running alongside him. The 41 pacers included U.S. Olympic medalists Matthew Centrowitz and Bernard Lagat, and, in groups of five, they formed a V-shape in front of Kipchoge to reduce wind resistance. Behind him were two more runners motivating him to keep moving at a quick pace. “The pacemakers did a great job, they are among the best runners of all time,” Kipchoge said after the event. “I thank them and appreciate them for accepting to do the job.”
Prior to his recent success, Kipchoge was just shy of breaking two hours for a marathon. In May 2017, he missed the mark by a mere 25 seconds during Nike’s Breaking2 project in Monza, Italy. He finished with a time of 2:00:25.
It should be noted that the 1:59:40 will not count for official record-breaking purposes because standard competition rules were not followed. But even so, it's impossible to deny the physical achievement. Kipchoge’s run beat the narrow odds that researchers had predicted for when a sub-two-hour marathon would occur. After analyzing marathon world records for over the past 60 years, there was just a five percent chance of it happening by 2024.
On Saturday, October 12, Eluid Kipchoge ran the fastest marathon time by breaking the sub-two-hour barrier.
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He ran 26.2 miles in 1:59:40. To break that down, he ran each mile in under four minutes and 34 seconds.
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“I am the happiest man in the world to be the first human to run under two hours,” Kipchoge said, “and I can tell people that no human is limited.”
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How will he celebrate?
“As normal. I don't go haywire celebrating. I always celebrate in a human way, in a calm way.” pic.twitter.com/zQm5ZsrNbO
— Cathal Dennehy (@Cathal_Dennehy) October 12, 2019
h/t: [Runner's World]
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