Ineos 1:59 Challenge

Kipchoge at the 2018 London Marathon

There were several changes from the 2017 previous attempt to break two hours. Instead of three participants, there was now only one participant, Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya, the world record holder in the men's marathon and the current defending Olympic marathon champion.[1] Kipchoge set the marathon world record of 2:01:39 at the Berlin Marathon on 16 September 2018.[2]

In the previous attempt, on 6 May 2017 on Autodromo Nazionale Monza in Milan, he was the fastest participant and missed the two-hour target by 25 seconds.[3][4] He won the event by over six minutes. On 6 May 2019, the 65th anniversary of the four-minute mile, multinational chemicals company Ineos announced that Kipchoge would attempt again to achieve a sub-two-hour marathon run, in an event sponsored by the company.[5]

For the Ineos challenge, Kipchoge was joined by forty-one pacemakers,[6] who rotated twice each lap and ran in a V-formation, rather than the diamond formation chosen for the previous attempt. Kipchoge was placed at the bottom of the formation with two pacemakers running behind him.[7] Each lap of the course featured two 4.3-kilometre (2.7-mile) out-and-back stretches of Hauptallee with the turning points coming at the Lusthaus and Praterstern roundabouts at either end of the avenue, in the Prater park. The entire route inclines only 2.4 metres (7.9 feet). Spectators were present for the attempt.[8]

The organizers planned to run the event on Saturday, 12 October 2019, but they had a reserve window of eight days in case of poor weather conditions.[9] The attempt was run on 12 October starting at 08:15 CET. Organizers allowed a start time between 05:00 and 09:00, but chose 08:15 to maximize viewership. The weather conditions were expected to be dry with a temperature of 9 °C (48 °F) at the start, rising to 12 °C (54 °F) at the finish.[10]

Kipchoge completed the challenge with an official time of 1:59:40.2, an average speed of 5.88 metres per second (21.2 km/h; 13.2 mph).[13]

The achievement was recognised by Guinness World Records with the titles "Fastest marathon distance (male)" and "First marathon distance under two hours".[14][15]

Directly after finishing the run, Kipchoge stated: "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."[16]

The organizers of the attempt added many techniques during the run which cumulatively assisted Kipchoge and the pacemakers:

• Pacing lasers guided the pacemakers and the main runner, thus allowing them to run at a precise pace and meaning energy was not lost in unwanted acceleration.
• The route was carefully chosen to ensure that no effort would be wasted on battling the wind or on directional or incline changes. This was achieved by the fact that most of the course was lined with tall trees reducing wind, and the course was very flat.
• The location of the race was chosen because its time zone was close to that of Kaptagat, Kenya, where Kipchoge trains. This meant Kipchoge would not be affected by jet lag or have his sleeping and eating patterns disrupted.
• The route was picked to be at low altitude, to increase oxygen in the air and thus help performance.
• Kipchoge wore an improved version of Nike's previously unreleased Vaporfly Next% running shoes, claimed to improve running economy by 4 percent.[17] The shoes were not banned by the IAAF, and the top 10 men in the Chicago Marathon (held the next day) wore Vaporflys. It was reported that Kipchoge and Brigid Kosgei, who broke the women's world record in Chicago, wore bespoke versions of the shoe, with the model called AlphaFLY. The Nike Vaporfly that they wore has a carbon-fibre plate fitted in its chunky foam sole which supposedly helps propel the wearer forward. A group of athletes complained to the IAAF about the shoes, leading the governing body to create a working party to look at the issue. However, Kipchoge had set his world record wearing them a year earlier, as did Abraham Kiptum when he set the half-marathon record. In addition, the five fastest times over the distance were all set by runners wearing these shoes.[18][19][20]
• A V-shaped formation of pacemakers shielded the runner from wind resistance. An earlier attempt used a differently shaped diamond formation. Kipchoge was placed at the bottom of the formation with two pacemakers running behind him.[7]
• Hydration was provided by a team coordinator on bicycle, and not in the usual water station method, in order to save time.

The Breaking2 attempt had been held behind closed doors at Monza with just a few press and Nike employees present. Kipchoge missed the presence of a crowd there and requested that the public be allowed to attend the Ineos 1:59 Challenge.[21]

A team of forty-one runners served as Kipchoge's pacemakers in the challenge.[22]

• Official site
• Article from BBC Sport: "Eliud Kipchoge: The man, the methods & controversies behind 'moon-landing moment'"