Kenyan runner Eliud Kipchoge came up just short of breaking two hours in the marathon on Friday night.
With very few remaining barriers left to conquer in the world of track and field, Nike and Eliud Kipchoge set their sights on one of the last great marks in the running world — the two-hour marathon. Exercise scientists and physiologists were skeptical, but Kipchoge and his team of pacers came up just short of the mythical two-hour time on Friday night. The 2016 Olympic gold medalist in the marathon ran a blistering time of 2:00:25, shattering the world record of 2:02:57.
However, this time will count as a new world record for Kipchoge due to the additional help Kipchoge received on the attempt. The race was run on a Formula 1 track in Italy that is designed with a grade perfect for speed. A fleet of pacers, including some of Nike’s most elite athletes, guided Kipchoge around the track, as did a pace car. Every detail of the attempt was planned out — pacing, hydration, even the shoes. Nike designed a special carbon plate for their marathon shoes that allegedly improves running economy by four percent.
Former 10,000-meter world record holder Dave Bedford is not buying the new time as the world record.
"“I think we need to accept it as it is. I believe it is a good marketing idea, and I think the results may give us some indication of the kind of help athletes might need. But the performance itself must adhere to the conditions around world records, or it’s meaningless.”"
Kipchoge ran the race at a perfect 4:34 pace in the early stages, and ultimately faltered in the last five kilometers. He made it much farther at two-hour pace than anyone would have predicted.
It was fitting that the two-hour marathon attempt was made on the 63rd anniversary of Roger Bannister’s four-minute mile. Kipchoge’s near miss at two hours may change the way runners view the time and pace — much like Bannister did with the mythical four-minute mile. Today, it is not uncommon for high schoolers to break four minutes in the mile and it is not even an automatic qualifier for the NCAA championships.
Kipchoge’s run at two hours was an impressive athletic feat. Scientists had always believed a two-hour marathon was eventually possible, but not for decades. Kipchoge turned that notion on its head, and the two-hour marathon will be run much sooner than anyone could have ever imagined.