National Geographic programme on the Sub 2-Hour Marathon attempt

National Geographic recently released this fascinating video about the 2017 attempt at running a marathon in under two hours. The 55 minute programme follows three world class athletes as they prepare for the attempt. The performance of Eliud Kipochoge in particular. is pretty amazing.

Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya runs a 2:00:25 Marathon

In a highly publicised event, Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya ran a 2 hour and 25 second marathon in Italy on Saturday the 6th of May 2017. While the time was more than two and a half minutes faster than the official world record of 2:02:57 set by Dennis Kimetto in 2014, it won't count as a new record due to several factors.

a) He was joined by teams of pacers which isn't allowed in a normal marathon.

b) The team of pacers adopted an arrowhead formation behind a Tesla electric car with a giant clock timer on it. This would have greatly reduced the wind resistance.

c) Kipchoge was given sports drinks delivered by helpers on mopeds, another practice not allowed in major marathons.

NIKE are reported to have spent in the region of 2 million dollars in the sub 2 hour marathon attempt with Kipchoge alone said to have got $1 million to participate in the attempt instead of doing a major city marathon.

As you can see, the pace was an incredible 4m 26s per mile for 26.2 miles. He was on course at the half way mark with a time of 59m 58s but slowed slightly in the second half.

Afterwards, Kipchoge said in an interview “This journey has been a long one. It has been hard. It has taken seven good months of preparation and dedication but I am a happy to run a marathon in just over two hours. I think the world now is just 25 seconds away.”


While the time was not an official record, it shows that the current record is under threat. Kipchoge is expected this at some stage in the future.

Closing stage of attempt...

Is a sub 2 hour Marathon possible???

There was a recent article on the BBC News website which asked this very question. Over the years, the record has been edging down towards the 2 hour  barrier and it currently stands at 2 hours 3 minutes and 59 seconds.

This was set by Haile Gebrselassie in Berlin in 2008 and he believes that a sub hour Marathon may be possible some time in the distant future, perhaps in 20 years time. Others however believe that the record of 2 hours 2 mins is possible after which it will plateau.

To set the current record, Haile had to run at an average of 4m 43.7s per mile whereas someone would have to run an average of 4m 34.6s per mile to break the 2 hour barrier. That's an incredible speed to maintain over 26.2 miles. Is it possible though???

The full article can be seen HERE