SECRETS OF THE BID FOR TWO-HOUR MARATHON
It is the absence of the remotest sign of physical distress which makes footage so compelling of the final stretch of Eliud Kipchoge’s attempt to redefine the limits of sporting capability.
He is at Monza in the last few hundred strides or so of an attempt to run a marathon in less than two hours — that’s a pace of 4min 35sec a mile for more than 26 miles — and yet is breathing evenly, barely breaking sweat, eyes fixed ahead.
the only panic belonged to the scientists attempting to help him accomplish the feat. ‘Be advised, we still need an increase,’ one said on the team radio when, with 1.5 miles to go, the projections suggested a time fractionally outside two hours. ‘i think this is all he can do,’ replied another.
‘He’s doing his thing. Patience,’ interjected a third.
the Kenyan fell short by a mere 26 seconds. His 2hr 00min 25sec, in May 2017, took seven seconds off the average for every mile run by Dennis Kimetto when he set the then world record. Yet it was still not enough.
today, Kipchoge will try again. in Monza, the scientific support team was put together by Nike. this time, British billionaire sir Jim Ratcliffe, through his company ineos, is funding Kipchoge’s shot at the ‘sub-two’ — one of sport’s great unconquered frontiers.
in April, he eased away from sir Mo Farah soon after crossing tower Bridge in the London Marathon, finishing in 2hr 2min 38sec.
the ‘sub-two’ requires the intervention of a support system which means that the time he sets at a 9.6km loop of Vienna’s Prater public park will not be recognised by the iAAF.
As in Monza, there will a pacer car set 20 yards ahead of Kipchoge which will fire a fluorescent green laser beam on to the road to mark where he needs to be if he is to break two hours. the laser will actually be set at a time below the two-hour mark, ensuring that Kipchoge will be ahead of the target and thus not denied his prize by a stumble.
A phalanx of pace-setters will be swapped in three or six-mile sections, as they cannot keep pace with Kipchoge for longer. their contribution also obviates any prospect of recognition by the iAAF, which insists that all pacemakers must run from the start.
the cyclists who will draw alongside Kipchoge to provide drinks — another breach of iAAF rules — have been rehearsing the simple manoeuvre for months. Kipchoge will run in the Vaporfly Next, a Nike shoe containing a controversial carbon-fibre plate in the soles, supposedly capable of improving times by 1per cent. And he will use a swedish energy drink which contains more carbohydrates than any other and also forms a hydrogel when it reaches the stomach, generating more energy during a marathon.
Yet, more than products, it is physiology that puts Kipchoge on the cusp of history. What amazed scientists on the Monza project was his capacity to use oxygen to produce energy — the ‘VO2 max’ factor.
taken with his high threshold for tolerating lactic acid and his economic running style, Kipchoge, at 34, remains the only individual on the planet who could come close to crossing this threshold.
some say this entire venture is too contrived to bear comparison with Roger Bannister breaking the four-minute mile in 1954. Professor Ross tucker, a south African sports scientist, has described it as getting man to the moon by taking gravity out of the equation.
‘i can numerically assess almost everything,’ said one of the Monza team. ‘But how can i quantify Kipchoge’s mind?’
His support team say that the fact he has attempted this before will be significant when it comes to today’s run. Kipchoge also knows the devastation that comes with falling short by 26 seconds.
He describes the significance of it in a way which makes you see why his team insist that psychological strength is his biggest asset, allowing him to blank pain.
it was put to him sympathetically at trackside in Monza that he had run an extraordinary 26 miles.
‘But it’s called two hours,’ he replied, grimacing. ‘i missed it, didn’t i?’