Eliud Kipchoge: Athletics Powerhouse? No Doubt About it, no human is limited!

October 27, 2019October 29, 2019 Dana Ochia Eliud Kipchoge, Kenya

In the days leading up to the Ineos 159 challenge in Vienna, the social media was awash with scientific demonstrations of how it was virtually impossible for one Eliud Kipchoge, the man who set the World Marathon record in Berlin at 2:01:39 in the 2018 Berlin Marathon, to run a sub-two hour marathon.

The arguments were that it was virtually impossible for a man to run approximately 5.8m/s. Coincidentally, another great athlete, a world record marathon holder himself, Paul Tergat, in an interview in October 11, 2009, is on record saying that no man can run a marathon in less than 2 hrs in this century. Is it true then, that no man can run the marathon in less than two hours in this century? Is it true as it was scientifically proven by naysayers that it is impossible to run 42Kms or approximately 5.8m/s? According to Eliud Kipchoge, the current official world marathon record holder, it is not impossible.

The Ineos159 challenge marathon kicks off in Vienna, Austria

In one of the interviews held with local media houses, and in the public relations campaigns leading up to the Ineos159 challenge marathon held in Vienna on October 12, 2019, Eliud Kipchoge, a Kenya athlete is quite emphatic that no human is limited, and is evidently quite psyched up for the event. He is evidently in good spirits and very well prepared mentally. Evidently, he is in his prime, mentally and physically, leaving no doubt whey the organizers settled for the man who would go on to keep up with pace-setters’ blistering pace of approximately 21.2kms/hr. to set an indomitable unofficial marathon world record.

Eliud Kipchoge, in white, runs between a group of pace-setters, guided by a laser beam

In what has proven to the world that indeed, no man is limited, and over and above the physical ability to endure, mental strength is important, Eliud Kipchoge, on October 12, 2019, nearly approximately 10 years since the comment made by his compatriot, Paul Tergat, went out and indeed proved to the world that man, with a mind set to virtually anything, is limitless.

Guided by technology, and a dream team of pace-setters drawn from other marathoners and athletes, Eliud Kipchoge maintained an average speed of 2:50 minutes per lap in Vienna. The entire course, the greatest marathoner of all time, ran the entire course within the projected time, leaving no doubts in the minds of the thousands of spectators watching in Vienna, and millions watching the event that was streamed live on YouTube, from different countries across the globe, that he was up to the challenge. With the support of the President of Kenya, who personally called him on the eve of the event, the deputy president, who was in Vienna, accompanied by governors, including the governor of his home county, Uasin Gishu, to watch the race, there was no doubt Eliud Kipchoge was going to bring the record home.

In an earlier attempt in Monza Italy, in Nike’s Breaking2 held in 2017, Eliud Kipchoge had run another unofficial time of 2:00:25, missing the sub-two hour mark by a single second per mile. Prior to the unofficial record set in 2017, consistent with the recent doubts about a possibility of a sub two-hour marathon, the earliest projected time for a sub two-hour marathon was 2032. However, going out, as evidenced by his aura and speech, it was evident that Eliud Kipchoge was going all out for a sub two-hour marathon. It was a no surprise therefore, when he finished the course in an unofficial time of 1:59:40, shaving off virtually an entire minute from the time recorded in Monza in 2017. Once again, Kenya has proven to be a global athletics powerhouse, putting not only the country, but also country firmly on the global map.