Eliud Kipchoge, 34, reigning Olympic champion and official world record holder of the marathon distance will attempt to break the two-hour barrier in Austria today. His marathon world record at 2:01:39 was set at the Berlin Marathon in September 2018.
He likened this feat to “like man landing on the moon”, if he’s successful.
Lets us look at some of the key information about this INEOS 1:59 Challenge:
- It will take place in Vienna, Austria today 12 October at 2:15pm Malaysia time.
- He will be aided by 41 world class pacers, with 5 running in front of him in a V-shaped formation, and another 2 behind him, purpose being to reduce drag.
- Each pacer will run for 4.8km.
- Kipchoge needs to maintain a 2:50 min/km pace.
- He will be wearing Nike ZoomX Vaporfly Next% shoes, which comes with carbon fiber plates on the soles
- Because this run is not in an open competition and uses in-and-out pacers, athletics world governing body IAAF will not recognise this attempt as an official record.
- 20,000 spectators are expected to cheer him on.
- You can watch it on the official YouTube channel.
Don’t miss the chance to watch history in the making today.
