Eliud Kipchoge Makes History by Running Sub Two-Hour Marathon

Following a previous attempt, Kenyan marathon runner Eliud Kipchoge finally made his dream come true today by becoming the first person to run a sub two-hour marathon.

Kipchoge made history in Vienna by running the first-ever sub2 marathon in a time of 1hr 59min 40sec. The World record holder and Olympic champion was assisted by 41 in-and-out pacemakers (seven at a time) and laser support from a car in front, and was cheered on by thousands of fans from all over the world. Kipchoge accomplished the sub2 time by completing four laps of a 9.4km circuit around the Prater, a park in the centre of the Austrian capital. Each kilometre was consistently ran in around 2:50, and Kipchoge never went slower than 2:52 for any.

With these assisted conditions, and the fact the run was not part of an open event, means Kipchoge’s achievement will not count as an official world record. However the feat will remain impressive nonetheless.

On the feat Kipchoge shared:

“I am feeling good. It has taken 65 years for a human to make history in sport. After Roger Bannister [running a sub four-minute mile in 1954] it took another 65 years … I’m happy to be the man to run under two hours. No human is limited, and I’m expecting more people to do it after today. The 41 pacemakers are among the best athletes in the whole world … to all of them I want to say thank you, thank you for doing the job. We made history together.”

The 34-year-old previously attempted the sub2 at Monza in Italy in 2017, falling short by 26 seconds, which can be seen in the National Geographic documentary, Breaking2.

Check out the “Ineos 1:59 Challenge” above.

In related news, Virgil Abloh and Eliud Kipchoge discuss the ethos behind sport and design.