

“I want to inspire many people, that no human is limited. These include Eliud Kipchoge during his first and second attempt to run a sub-two-hour marathon. “After Roger Bannister in 1954, it took another 63 years, I tried and I did not get it,” he said about the breakthrough. Kipchoge realised the significance immediately afterwards. He was paced by a car and carefully co-ordinated team of elite runners throughout.īut the moment still transcended the rules: the sense of occasion and Kipchoge’s emotions afterwards ensured that the completion of the 1:59 challenge, which he had already attempted and failed once, will be seen as his crowning achievement for years to come. It did not count as an official marathon world record, because standard competition rules for pacing and fluids were not followed, and it wasn’t an ‘open’ race. Kipchoge ran 26.2 miles in the time of 1:59:40, on a special course in Vienna, Austria. Some will argue about the details, but the facts remain remarkable. Like Roger Bannister breaking the four minute mile in 1954, the Kenyan achieved something that many people believed physically couldn’t be done. That made them titled at an angle, a change that saved Kipchoge 12 seconds, according to the documentary.It’s hard to put Eliud Kipchoge’s astonishing sub two-hour marathon from October 2019 into context. And the entire route had just 8 feet of incline.Įvent organizers transformed the two roundabouts into banked turns by repouring the asphalt in those parts of the course.

Minimizing curves was crucial, since they require runners to exert more energy than sprinting straight.

Ineos, the UK-based petrochemical company that sponsored Kipchoge's second attempt, selected Prater Park in Vienna because it offered a route that has a 2.7-mile straightaway with roundabouts on either end. Half a million people across 196 countries tuned into the live broadcast.

Kipchoge said that's because he was more confident in his training: "What makes my mind to be more relaxed is the culmination of training for four or five months." Kipchoge: The Last Milestone Apple TV Kipchoge: The Last Milestone View in iTunes Available on iTunes Kenyan long-distance runner Eliud Kipchoge tries to break one of the last milestones in sports history - finishing a marathon in under two hours. Kipchoge, in white, and his pacers at the starting line of the Ineos 1:59 Challenge marathon in Vienna, Austria, October 12, 2019. Account icon An icon in the shape of a person's head and shoulders.
