Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge breaks two-hour marathon barrier

Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge made athletics history in Austria on Saturday as he became the first athlete to run a marathon in under two hours, passing a milestone few thought could be reached for decades if at all.

“Kipchoge tore up the specially tailored course over 4.4 laps of the Prater Hauptallee, a park in central Vienna. Guided by lasers on the road from a support car in front and surrounded by seven pacemakers at a time, the world record holder stuck to a pace of 2min 50sec per kilometre.”

The 34-year-old Kenyan declared: “I’m feeling good. After Roger Bannister made history, it took me another 65 years. I’ve tried but I’ve done it.”

He also said that: “This shows no one is limited. Now I’ve done it, I am expecting more people to do it after me.”

In 2017, Kipchoge had tried to dip under two hours at the Formula One track in Monza, Italy, but missed out then by just 26 seconds. He had been joined by two other elite runners: Ethiopia’s Lelisa Desisa and Zersenay Tadese, of Eritrea, who both finished well off the pace.

This time, for the Ineos 1:59 Challenge, Kipchoge was on his own, but assisted by 41 pacemakers, including former Olympic and world record holders, in his attempt to achieve the milestone.

The achievement will not be recognised as an official marathon world record as it was not run in open competition. Nevertheless, Kipchoge’s place in the history books is assured. Indeed, he has won 10 of his 11 marathons and holds the official world record marathon time of 2:01:39,

Sources: The Gardian & IrisTimes