Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 123, October 2019 | Page 29

13 marathons, but that extra one was “illegal,” the
much-vaunted Nike-sponsored ‘Breaking 2’ effort in
May 2017. In an effort to try break through the two-
hour mark, Kipchoge ran behind a pacing car on the
nearly pancake-flat Monza race track in Italy, and the
speed was scientifically worked out, to the nth degree.
Furthermore, a team of pacemakers accompanied
him, running in a V-formation to shield him from any
elements, stepping in and out of the attempt so that
there were always fresh legs helping Kipchoge.
At the end, it was desperately close, as Kipchoge
crossed the line in 2:00:25, the fastest time ever run
for the marathon distance and well under the then
World Record of 2:02:57, held by Dennis Kimetto.
However, Kipchoge’s time could not be ratified as
a new World Record, because it did not meet the
requirements of a record-legal run. For starters, you
cannot run behind a pace car to shield you from the
wind, and pacemakers cannot come in and out of the
race and be replaced at will.
That said, the sub-2 attempt had a marked effect on
Kipchoge. The belief he had in himself was already
sky-high, but Monza pushed that belief up another
notch – or two – and thus in September 2018, he
raced through the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin to win
the Berlin Marathon for a third consecutive year, this
time with the clock reading 2:01:39, a legitimate world
record. This meant he averaged 105 consecutive
400m splits in 69.2 seconds. Each! Now just try to
imagine that. I mean, when last did you try to run a
400m as fast as you could, and how fast were you
able to do it? Now imagine doing a brutal pace of
69sec/400m for 105 consecutive times, without a
break? That really puts things into perspective...
Emmanuel Bett, a sub-27min 10,000m man. The
Ingebritsons – three brothers with impressive results,
including the youngest, Jakob, who won the European
Championships 1500m and 5000m and at the age of
just 17 ran a 3:52.28 mile. Abdallah Mande, a 27:35
10km athlete. Eric Kiptanui, a 58:42 half marathoner.
These are but some of the 42 athletes who will help
Kipchoge in his 1:59 attempt, according to the last
statement emerging from the Nike camp. The exact
rotation of who will pace when is still being worked
out, but clearly nothing is being left to chance. What
is known is that batches of pacers will do roughly 5km
each and then be replaced by a new batch.
Record or Not...
Of course, it will not be a world record if Kipchoge
succeeds, but who actually cares? Much as the
purists bemoan the lack of validity of the attempt,
this has never been about a world record. For
Kipchoge and his team, this is all about breaking
barriers, pushing limits, going where no man has
gone before. And when he does it – which I firmly
believe he will – then expect the legitimate world
record to fall very soon.
After all, Kipchoge dragged Mosinet Geremew and
Mule Wasihun to massive PB’s in London this year,
and for the first time in the history of marathon
running, two athletes broke 2:03. Because if he
achieves the “impossible” in Vienna, more athletes
will join him believing man can faster and start to
push boundaries. That is what 1:59 is all about, and I
cannot wait to see it all unfold.
Ready to Try Again
Besides helping to push him to a new World Record,
the Breaking 2 project has fuelled the desire in
Kipchoge to try again, and in May this year it was
announced that sometime between 12 and 20
October, he will once again attempt to go under two
hours. Just like in Monza, the Nike team went looking
for a flat course, with no major twists or turns to break
his stride, and they found it in the Prater public park
in Vienna, Austria. Everything will be done to make
sure that this time Kipchoge can break the magical
two-hour barrier.
To go under two hours, Kipchoge will effectively need
to run each kilometre in two minutes and 52 seconds.
To put this in perspective, that is the equivalent of
running eight and a half consecutive 5km parkruns at
14:13 pace! To hopefully achieve that, a 9.6km circuit
in the park has been selected, with a 4.3km straight
and smooth turn points to prevent loss of speed, and
Kipchoge will run 4.4 laps of the course to make up
the marathon distance. Beside the good weather in
Vienna in October, this venue was chosen because it
allows supporters to watch the run unfold.
There will once again be pacemakers, and what a
list of names has been assembled! Switzerland’s
Julien Wanders, the European 10km record holder.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Manfred Seidler is a freelance Olympic sport journalist who has been in the industry
since 1994, in both print media and broadcasting,covering four Olympic Games for SABC Radio, and
producing various athletics shows for the SABC. Follow him on Twitter: @sportmansa;
Facebook: Sport Man SA; Instagram: sportman_sa.
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