Eliud Kipchoge ran a marathon in 1 hour, 59 minutes, 40 seconds, becoming the first person to break two hours for 26.2 miles in a special event in Vienna on Saturday morning.
“It has taken 65 years for a human being to make history in sport after Roger Bannister,” Kipchoge said, noting the Brit who became the first man to break 4 minutes for a mile in 1954. “I can tell people that no human is limited. I expect more people all over the world to run under two hours after today.”
NBCSN airs an exclusive replay of the Ineos 1:59 Challenge on Sunday from 3-5:30 p.m. ET and Monday at 2:30 p.m.
Kipchoge, the 34-year-old Olympic champion from Kenya, reached his goal in a non-record-eligible time trial event built just for him. He flashed smiles in the final mile, appearing confident he would meet the goal he’s had in mind since the Rio Games.
He pointed to both sides of the crowd, slapped his chest twice as he crossed under the finish banner. He found the arms of his wife, Grace, watching him finish a marathon in person for the first time, and children. Then he moved onto his career-long coach, 1992 Olympic 3000m steeplechase silver medalist Patrick Sang.
Kipchoge said the hardest hours of his life were between 5 and 8:15 on Saturday morning, up until the event began. He ate oatmeal for breakfast.
The bid, similar to Kipchoge’s sub-two-hour marathon attempt in Italy two years ago, featured packs of pacers from an announced group of 41 taking turns, a lead car beaming lasers out the back as a guide and special Nike shoes.
The final pace group shed from Kipchoge so he could run the final 500 meters alone. Kipchoge sped up, taking the projected finish down from 1:50:50 in the last mile.
Pacers included a Who’s Who of distance runners, from Olympic 1500m champion Matthew Centrowitz to five-time Olympian Bernard Lagat, who is 44 years old.
Kipchoge ran 2:00:25 in his previous sub-two attempt on a Formula One track in Monza, Italy. He holds the world record of 2:01:39, set at the 2018 Berlin Marathon.
“Berlin is running and breaking a world record,” Kipchoge said before the event. “Vienna is running and making history in this world, like the first man to go the moon.”
This event was held at the Prater, a central Vienna park, with fans lining the six-mile circuit.
Next year, Kipchoge can become the third person to win multiple Olympic marathons. He won his last 10 marathons over the last five years, a modern-era elite record streak.
Kipchoge, a 2003 World 5000m champion at age 18, moved to road racing after finishing seventh in the 2012 Olympic trials 5000m, failing to make the Kenyan team for the London Games.
“I’m a believer of a challenges and a believer if you climb one branch, look for the next branch,” he said.
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Meanwhile in Eldoret, Kenya, this is how they celebrated @EliudKipchoge becoming the first man to run a sub two-hour marathon. 🇰🇪🙌#INEOS159 #NoHumanIsLimited
— INEOS 1:59 Challenge (@INEOS159) October 12, 2019
pic.twitter.com/eRnD22sqgu