# 2 hour marathon



## Northerner (Oct 12, 2019)

Eliud Kipchoge has become the first athlete to run a marathon in under two hours, beating the mark by 20 seconds.

The Kenyan, 34, covered the 26.2 miles (42.2km) in one hour 59 minutes 40 seconds in the Ineos 1:59 Challenge in Vienna, Austria on Saturday.

It will not be recognised as the official marathon world record because it was not in open competition and he used a team of rotating pacemakers.

"This shows no-one is limited," said Kipchoge.

"Now I've done it, I am expecting more people to do it after me."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/athletics/50025543

This is truly astonishing!  When I ran my first marathon in 1984 the record was held by Rob Di Cartella - 'Deek' - at 2:08:18. I couldn't imagine anyone going much faster, and even though people did, I could never imagine that they could knock so much time off in order to break 2 hours  This is basically running at ever-so-slightly faster than 13.1 mph for 26.2 miles. When I have been at my very best I was running at about 9 mph, but only for 2-3 miles. At that pace I felt like I was absolutely flying and in danger of falling over my own legs - Kipchoge would have whipped past me  In fact, he would have been an hour and 20 minutes ahead of me when I ran my PB of 3:39 in Sheffield in 1987 

This is equivalent to Bannister's sub-four minute mile, and now the barrier has gone I imagine that it will be broken again, in race conditions, in the years to come


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## Andy HB (Oct 12, 2019)

I suspect it will take quite a while for it to be matched in race conditions though. It looked like everything was set up to perfection for this run.

But hats off to the guy!


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## mikeyB (Oct 12, 2019)

Bannister’s sub four minute mile also had a pacemaker.


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## Docb (Oct 12, 2019)

mikeyB said:


> Bannister’s sub four minute mile also had a pacemaker.



Several if I recall.  Mind you it was on a cinder track and timed by a bloke with a hand operated mechanical stop watch!


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## Eddy Edson (Oct 12, 2019)

I could do that if I wanted to. (j/k)


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## Chris Hobson (Oct 12, 2019)

This morning Liz and I watched the live broadcast of Eliud Kipchoge running a marathon in under two hours. He actually beat the two hour time by twenty seconds.

The 34 year old from Kenya  ran 26.2 miles (42.2km) in one hour 59 minutes 40 seconds in the Ineos 1:59 Challenge in Vienna.

It won't be recognised as the official marathon world record because it was not in open competition and he did it using teams of pacemakers and a pace car that was using a laser to shine a line on the road in front of him.

As a mediocre runner whose best marathon time is around 4:20, I  see it as a staggering acheivement. I think that it is only a matter of time before someone does it on a regular marathon too.


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## Ditto (Oct 12, 2019)

Eddy Edson said:


> I could do that if I wanted to. (j/k)


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## Chris Hobson (Oct 12, 2019)

I posted about this too, I hadn't noticed that you had beaten me to it. I'm really glad that we decided to watch it as it happened, he cut it so fine that even with a couple of minutes to go we weren't sure whether he would do it.


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## Northerner (Oct 12, 2019)

Chris Hobson said:


> I posted about this too, I hadn't noticed that you had beaten me to it. I'm really glad that we decided to watch it as it happened, he cut it so fine that even with a couple of minutes to go we weren't sure whether he would do it.


Yes, it was very tense  There was just one short time when he appeared to fall back from the pacemakers, but only very briefly  I wonder how much those shoes cost? I think it is no longer such a mental barrier now, and Kipchoge's record is only a minute and a half shy anyway. I think the next barrier has to be Paula's 2:15 for the women


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## Northerner (Oct 12, 2019)

Chris Hobson said:


> This morning Liz and I watched the live broadcast of Eliud Kipchoge running a marathon in under two hours. He actually beat the two hour time by twenty seconds.
> 
> The 34 year old from Kenya  ran 26.2 miles (42.2km) in one hour 59 minutes 40 seconds in the Ineos 1:59 Challenge in Vienna.
> 
> ...


4:36 per mile, every mile!  My current pace is 9:30 over 5.5 miles


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## Chris Hobson (Oct 12, 2019)

You might recall that I was pretty pleased with myself after doing the parkrun in 21 minutes. This involves 1k splits inside 4:12 or 1 mile splits of about seven minutes. That is just for 5k.


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## Northerner (Oct 12, 2019)

Chris Hobson said:


> You might recall that I was pretty pleased with myself after doing the parkrun in 21 minutes. This involves 1k splits inside 4:12 or 1 mile splits of about seven minutes. That is just for 5k.


And you were right to be pleased - that's a terrific pace  More marathon fun on iplayer tomorrow - Chicago Marathon with Mo Farah at 13:20


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## Chris Hobson (Oct 13, 2019)

The ironman World Championships have just taken place at Kona. I haven't got the results to hand but a British girl came second. Jan Frodeno won the men's event. Alistair Brownlee was near the front earlier on but I couldn't find his name among the leaders so I think that he must have dropped off the pace towards the end.


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## nonethewiser (Oct 13, 2019)

Astonishing achievement, boy them Kenyans can run.


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## Northerner (Oct 14, 2019)

Northerner said:


> I think the next barrier has to be Paula's 2:15 for the women


Well, no sooner said than done! 

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2...world-marathon-record-paula-radcliffe-chicago

I really thought Paula's record would last for many years to come, as no-one has really come close over the years - then Kosgei goes and smashes it!


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## Lisa66 (Oct 14, 2019)

Northerner said:


> 4:36 per mile, every mile!  My current pace is 9:30 over 5.5 miles



Maybe a pair of Eliud Kipchoge’s “super duper not yet available to buy” running shoes might help you...you never know...you could be back from your morning run before you go!


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## trophywench (Oct 15, 2019)

Well 'The Experts' do say those shoes 'do make quite a difference' to performance - and apparently that lady who beat Paula's record was wearing em too.  (according to something Pete read somewhere on MSN)


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## Northerner (Oct 15, 2019)

trophywench said:


> Well 'The Experts' do say those shoes 'do make quite a difference' to performance - and apparently that lady who beat Paula's record was wearing em too.  (according to something Pete read somewhere on MSN)


They are saying about 4% improvement. Mind you, the same could be said about any advances made to shoes over the decades - the ones I wear now are significantly different to the ones I wore for my first marathon in 1984!  Most sports have used advances in tech to improve the potential human performance - we've come a long way from Alf Tupper!


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## Lisa66 (Oct 15, 2019)

Shouldn’t detract from what an incredible achievement it was. I don’t think the shoes would make any difference to my toddle round the village. Alf Tupper? I remember working my way through the Dunlop colours, back in the day...not long distance running, just sport.


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## Northerner (Oct 15, 2019)

Alf Tupper 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alf_Tupper


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## Chris Hobson (Oct 15, 2019)

Regarding shoes. I have a book about lots of people having run the London Marathon, usually with either a disability or some kind of tragic back story. One guy was exploring the theory that running shoes are actually really bad for you and, in order to prove this, ran the LM bare footed. Instead of making his case, his account of the event strongly suggested that running shoes are pretty essential.

Being a sixty something year old person, any mention of Dunlop shoes only reminds me that they were used by PE teachers to whack troublesome boys on the bottom.


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## Lisa66 (Oct 16, 2019)

Northerner said:


> Alf Tupper
> 
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alf_Tupper



Thank you. Something else I’ve learnt on the forum.

Hmm, I’m sure you were never on the receiving end of a Dunlop shoe @ChrisHobson.....whatever flash it was Chris ! (I’d put a smiley, but they keep scrambling on me).


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