This archive report was first published on 10 October 2019.
On Saturday, October 12, 2019, Eliud Kipchoge, the world record holder, will attempt to break the two-hour marathon barrier in Vienna, a feat he has compared to going to the moon.
‘I am running to make history, to show that no human is limited. It’s not about money, it’s about showing a generation of people that there are no limits,’ Kipchoge told reporters.
At 34 years old, Kipchoge has already achieved great success, setting the world record of 2:01.39 at the Berlin marathon last September, a record that smashed the previous one by 78 seconds.
However, Kipchoge believes that Saturday’s race will be a completely different challenge. ‘Running Berlin and running Vienna are different. Running Berlin is for winning and running a world record, Vienna is like going to the moon,’ he added.
A 41-man pacing squad will support Kipchoge, who missed out by 26 seconds in Monza, Italy, in May 2017.
The sport’s governing body, the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), will not recognise the run as an official record because it is not in open competition and it uses in and out pacemakers.
Despite this, IAAF president Sebastian Coe believes that the milestone will still be important. ‘If there’s an exciting attempt for getting under two hours for the marathon I’m not sure that most people are going to be sitting there going, ‘Well, it wasn’t sanctioned as a world record because it wasn’t in open competition,’’ Coe said.
