BEVERLY HILLS, October 13, (THEWILL) – Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge became the first distance runner to successfully complete a sub two-hour marathon on Saturday in the 42.2km race at Prater park in the Austrian capital of Vienna, with a time of 1 hour, 59 minutes and 40 seconds.
He was guided by rotating 41-one man teams of pacemakers, many of whom are world class runners, who dropped in and out of the race to help protect him from the wind, and by an electric pace-car that showed the ideal pace and position they should be running.
Although the 34-year-old’s effort will not count as an official world record because it was not an open competition and used in and out pacemakers, the feat will, however, be seen as a historic moment in distance running,
The Olympic champion had claimed that this quest, dubbed as ‘INEOS 1:59 Challenge’, would be comparable in the annals of human achievement to standing on the moon or scaling Everest for the first time.
“I am feeling good. After Roger Bannister in 1954 it took another 63 years, I tried and I did not get it – 65 years, I am the first man – I want to inspire many people, that no human is limited,” Kipchoge said.
This is the second attempt for Kipchoge after he failed in his first try in 2017, running a marathon distance of 2:00:25.
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