On Saturday, Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge made history by bursting through the never before broken 2-hour marathon mark. He crossed the finish line in Prater Park, Vienna with a time of 1hr 59min 40.2seconds making him the first person to ever run a marathon distance in under two hours.
The 34-year-old Kenyan already holds the male world record for a marathon distance of 2:01:39.
Kipchoge ran a specially designed course and was accompanied by a team of 41 pacemakers who each took a turn supporting him. They used a car to set the pace and the team maintained a pace of 2:50 minutes per kilometer. He has been training for the last four and a half months for this day and was elated to achieve something he set out to do years ago.
“I’m the happiest man today. The message that no human is limited is now in everybody’s mind,”
“From the first kilometres, I was really comfortable. I have been training for it for the last four and a half months, and above all, I have been putting in my heart and in my mind that I’ll run an under two-hour marathon.”
After accelerating in the last kilometer of the race he still managed to smile and gesticulate to the crowds as they cheered him on.
Due to the way the race was paced and set up the International Association of Athletics Federations will not validate the time as a world record. However, the feat has been achieved and the unthinkable has been conquered.