It sometimes feels like the running media world has given up on trying to find new ways to contextualize Kipchoge’s dominance in a notoriously unpredictable event in the same way that he drops his rivals in the latter stages of the marathon, Kipchoge has outlasted our ability to find new words to extol his brilliance. In doing so, he improved his career marathon record to 14 wins in 16 races. He ended up winning handily, in a time of two hours, two minutes, and 40 seconds. Somehow, not having my support didn’t seem to affect him in any noticeable way. Which is why I’m all the more annoyed that, due to poor planning and technical difficulties, I failed to watch the livestream of Kipchoge in last Sunday’s Tokyo Marathon. Running fans would be wise to savor each and every one of his semiannual displays of athletic mastery. Like a champion prizefighter at the height of his fame, he has the luxury of being able to pick his bouts.
He only competes twice a year-if you count his sub-two exhibitions, which weren’t “races,” strictly speaking, but something more along the lines of corporate-sponsored performance art. Since winning the 2016 Delhi Half, he has focused exclusively on the full marathon. “I want to inspire many people, that no human is limited.Eliud Kipchoge, the greatest marathoner in history, does not race very often. “After Roger Bannister in 1954, it took another 63 years, I tried and I did not get it,” he said about the breakthrough. Kipchoge realised the significance immediately afterwards.
He was paced by a car and carefully co-ordinated team of elite runners throughout.īut the moment still transcended the rules: the sense of occasion and Kipchoge’s emotions afterwards ensured that the completion of the 1:59 challenge, which he had already attempted and failed once, will be seen as his crowning achievement for years to come. It did not count as an official marathon world record, because standard competition rules for pacing and fluids were not followed, and it wasn’t an ‘open’ race. Kipchoge ran 26.2 miles in the time of 1:59:40, on a special course in Vienna, Austria. Some will argue about the details, but the facts remain remarkable. Like Roger Bannister breaking the four minute mile in 1954, the Kenyan achieved something that many people believed physically couldn’t be done. It’s hard to put Eliud Kipchoge’s astonishing sub two-hour marathon from October 2019 into context.
0 kommentar(er)
