Kipchoge and Ineos leave no stone unturned to finally break the two-hour barrier
An expert team will help the Kenyan try to beat marathon’s landmark time, writes Ben Bloom
‘It is about telling people that no one sets a limit. Limits are in people’s minds’
What is this all about?
Sixty-five years ago, Roger Bannister broke one of the most famous barriers in sport when he became the first to run a mile in less than four minutes. The two-hour marathon holds similar intrigue.
Last year, Eliud Kipchoge smashed the world record in Berlin with 2hr 1min 39sec. It raised the question of whether someone was capable of breaking two hours, but for now the answer remains no – not legally anyway. This attempt will take place under heavily manufactured conditions, in a time trial rather than a race and it will not count as an official world record. Yet this remains a big deal for Kipchoge – even with the Olympic titles, world titles and world records he has accumulated – and his wife and children have travelled to watch him race for the first time.
“I wanted them to be part of history,” he said. “It’s about telling people that no one sets a limit. Limits are happening in people’s minds.”
Aiding the Kenyan’s quest is British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his controversial chemicals company Ineos. In recent years, Ratcliffe has moved into cycling with Team Ineos, sailing with Ineos Team UK and football with French club Nice. Essentially, money is no object in Kipchoge’s quest.
Where and when is it happening?
The original plan had been to hold the event in London, but unpredictable weather was the main stumbling block. With a desire to remain in a time zone no more than three hours from where Kipchoge trains in Kenya, Vienna was chosen. The climate in the Austrian capital is ideal for marathon running at this time of year and meteorologists from the Ineos Team UK sailing set-up identified tomorrow as the perfect date. A start time from 5-9am will be announced today, with the forecast a perfect 10C.
The 9.6kilometre course is a flat, straight, stretch of road lined with horse chestnut trees running through the Prater, one of Vienna’s best-known green spaces, with a roundabout at each end. With 90 per cent of the course straight, it is made for speed. Organisers are hoping around 20,000 spectators will line the course.
What help will Kipchoge have on his quest?
The most controversial aspects of Kipchoge’s run are the contrived conditions it will take place under, thus rendering it ineligible for a world record. A number of senior Team Ineos cycling staff, including general manager Sir Dave Brailsford and head of athlete performance Tim Kerrison, are in Vienna to pass on their expertise and no stone has been left unturned.
Kipchoge will be accompanied at all times by seven pacemakers assembled in an aerodynamic formation to shield the Kenyan from the wind. A total of 41 pacemakers have been recruited, including the likes of Olympic 1500metres champion Matthew Centrowitz, the three Norwegian Ingebrigtsen brothers and Selemon Barega, who last week won world 5,000m silver. The pacemakers have been split into five teams of seven (with six reserve runners), who will complete 4.5km stints before stepping out.
Kipchoge and his pacemakers will follow an electric car travelling at his exact target time of 1-59-50 and projecting a grid using green lasers on to the road. The car will also provide a further wind shield, while drinks will be delivered directly to Kipchoge, so he does not have to veer off the fastest line.
Perhaps the biggest aid are Kipchoge’s shoes, which are perfectly legal. The five fastest marathons in history have all been run by athletes wearing the Nike Zoomx Vaporfly over the past 13 months and Kipchoge will use the latest model, the NEXT%.
Various studies have shown that the carbon fibre plate in the shoe results in a significant reduction in oxygen used when running and, therefore, energy exerted.
Does it really prove anything?
According to Kipchoge, running under two hours is “like the first man to go to the Moon”, but critics have suggested if he manages it he will have done so while effectively taking gravity out of the equation.
Asked about those who think his attempt is folly, Kipchoge simply replied: “I respect everybody’s thoughts and I hope they respect mine, too. The law of nature cannot allow all of us to come together.”
The event is also another way for Ineos to extend its reach into global sport, although it has remained coy about the amount of money spent on its latest quest. Fran Millar, Ineos chief executive, said: “We’re not doing this to talk about money. We’re genuinely doing this because it’s something no human has ever done before. That’s a priceless thing to achieve.”
When asked his thoughts on Kipchoge’s attempt, Lord Coe, president of the International Association of Athletics Federations, was broadly supportive, saying: “I have encouraged organisations who want to promote our sport to be creative and sometimes think outside of the box.
“If people are going to get excited and a few young people might decide that marathon running or road running is for them, or frankly just want to do something for their health and well-being through running, then I can be pretty catholic about it.”
How can we trust it is legitimate?
It is reasonable to have some element of scepticism in the current climate. Almost 150 Kenyan athletes tested positive for drugs between 2004 and 2018, while there have been recent reports of corruption in the Kenyan anti-doping programme.
Kipchoge has never been accused of any wrongdoing and both he and the pacemakers will be subject to regular drugs testing as part of the World Marathon Majors and Athletics Integrity Unit regimes.
As for the recent news that prominent coach Alberto Salazar has been banned for four years for doping offences, Patrick Sang, Kipchoge’s coach, said that has no bearing on his athlete.
“Eliud has been an athlete for so many years now, this kind of news has no bearing on his mission,” he said. “It’s unfortunate it’s happening. It would be a tragedy to connect the two.”