By Juliet Bu ‘23, News Writer

Eliud Kipchoge on the Final Stretch of the Marathon

Source: Abc. news

On Saturday, October 12th, Eliud Kipchoge sprinted across the finish line of a 26.2 mile course in Vienna, Austria. Upon crossing under the arch, the crowd erupted as they saw his time. He had run a marathon in 1 hour, 59 minutes, and 40 seconds. At that moment, the 34 year-old Kenyan runner earned the fastest marathon time ever recorded. 

Kipchoge’s goal of breaking two hours in the marathon was not a new goal for him. In May 2017, Kipchoge attempted to break two hours in Milan, where he fell short by 25 seconds. This failure only made him more determined and he adjusted his training plan, running 125-140 miles per week compared to then 118-130 he used to run. Before his run in Vienna, he told Runner’s World, “I believe because of my rich experiences in Monza I am in a much better position to run 26 seconds quicker and make history.” May 2017 also marked the start of Nike’s Breaking2 project. The purpose of this project was to host many different marathon courses until Kipchoge broke two hours on his marathon time. This project gave Nike more visibility in the running world and also made Kipchoge’s goal more feasible by providing funding. 

There were many logistics that needed to be arranged for the run. The chosen country, Vienna, has a very mild temperature, which is ideal for running, and it is only one time zone away from Kipchoge’s training camp in Kenya. The course is at Prater Park, which has straight, paved roads, taking away the variables of turns or uneven terrain.

During his run, Kipchoge used many tactics to improve his speed. For example, his shoes, the Nike ZoomX Vaporfly NEXT%, are an unreleased edition of the Vaporfly NEXT% racing shoes and utilize next-generation running-shoe technology. The current Nike ZoomX Vaporfly NEXT% allegedly improves metabolic efficiency by four percent and weighs 17.1 ounces. Because Kipchoge’s shoes are a newer version and were customized just for the Break2 project, there is concern that his speed was largely aided by his special edition shoes. Still, others argue that his natural ability led him to success and his shoes played a very minimal role. Along with his shoes, Kipchoge also had pacers whose role was to run respective parts of the marathon with Kipchoge and maintain a stable pace to allow him to achieve his desired time. However, part of the challenge of a marathon is the ability to pace oneself and some argue that his use of pacers undermines the purpose of the sport. His team of runners called themselves INEOS, and consisted of 41 of the world’s best runners, including Olympic gold medalist Matthew Centrowitz. They ran ahead of Kipchoge in a ‘V’ formation to lessen the force of the wind. There was significant science involved in attempting to control all possible variables, including the wind, and critics argued that the controlling of natural variables defeats the legitimacy of a record. Although there is disagreement about Eliud Kipchoge’s tools for success, there is no denying that without Eliud Kipchoge’s raw running abilities, he would not have been able to accomplish this achievement. 

Eliud’s time was not counted as an official world record, but he is determined to set an official record one day. For now, his breaking of two hours sets a new precedent for running. In the past, cross country and track sports have not been as relevant as sports such as basketball or football, but with this recent milestone, running will gain attention. Eliud Kipchoge said,“Today we went to the moon and came back to earth! I am at a loss for words for all the support I have received from all over the world.” This event was truly both a scientific and athletic breakthrough that will be remembered for decades. As Warren Sunada-Wong ‘20, captain of the cross country team, states, “While not everyone is a runner, everyone can appreciate Kipchoge’s perseverance and dedication that allowed him to run the sub-2 marathon. These personality traits are important in running as well as other facets of life. We can all take a page out of Kipchoge’s book by focusing our efforts and not giving up.”