This weekend Eliud Kipchoge, arguably the greatest distance runner of all time, will make his second attempt to run a sub-2hr marathon, a feat many thought to be impossible just a few years ago.
His first attempt in 2017 fell 26-seconds short, Kipchoge crossed the line in 2:00.25, missing out by just 1-second for every mile. However amazing that attempt would’ve been, the Nike sponsored event was highly controversial in that absolutely everything was taken care of, from his footwear to his pacers, the lead car with a huge panel reducing any wind resistance, and even the laser spot on the floor in front of him indicating the very optimum running position. The new marathon record stood only as an unofficial time.
The very fact that he did actually run a marathon faster than anybody had done before, the official World Record at that time was 2:02.57, gave him the confidence and psychological boost that his body was capable of it. His next race, he ran 2:01.39 in Berlin, smashing the previous record by well over a minute.
I think he’ll do it on Saturday in Vienna, and even if it won’t stand as an official record, the psychological restraints of 120-minutes will have been removed, and it won’t be long until a sub-2hr marathon is officially run. Probably by Kipchoge…
So, 26.2-miles in 1:59.59… exactly how fast IS that. It works out at 6-meters every second. Or 4:34min/mile pace. The next time you go to the gym, crank the treadmill up to 13.1-mph and see how long you last. Probably not more than a few seconds. Or next time you’re at the running track, see if you can run around in 68-secs, then think about doing another 104.5 laps at that pace.
Watch here for a live stream of the event from Vienna, Austria on Saturday.
