Ineos 1:59 Challenge
The Ineos 1:59 Challenge was a successful 2019 attempt by Kenyan athlete Eliud Kipchoge to break the two-hour mark for running the marathon distance. The event was specifically created for Kipchoge and held in Vienna, Austria, on 12 October 2019. Due to rotating pacemakers, delivery of hydration by bicycle, and the lack of open competition, the achievement was not eligible to be ratified as a marathon world record, and is not recognized as such by World Athletics. Summary. In 2016, Nike organized the Breaking2 project to train a team of runners for an attempt at completing  a marathon distance in under two hours, a benchmark previously considered impossible to achieve. Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya, the world record holder in the men's marathon and the current defending Olympic marathon champion was one of the runners on that team. When the event was finally held on 6 May 2017 at Autodromo Nazionale Monza in Milan, Kipchoge would finish first before the other runners, Zersenay Tadese and Lelisa Desisa, but would fall short of the two-hour goal by 25 seconds. 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. This marked a shift away from the original format of Breaking2. Instead of three participants, only Kipchoge targeted the record, having already set the marathon world record of 2:01:39 at the Berlin Marathon on 16 September 2018. For the Ineos challenge, Kipchoge was joined by forty-one pacemakers, 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. Each lap of the course featured two 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 . Spectators were present for the attempt. 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. 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 at the start, rising to at the finish. Results. Kipchoge completed the challenge with an official time of 1:59:40.2, an average speed of . The achievement was recognised by Guinness World Records with the titles "Fastest marathon distance (male)" and "First marathon distance under two hours". 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." Accessories and optimization strategies. The organizers of the attempt added many techniques during the run which cumulatively assisted Kipchoge and the pacemakers: 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. Pacemakers. A team of forty-one runners served as Kipchoge's pacemakers in the challenge. External links.