Eliud Kipchoge: The moon landing of the marathon

Sometimes you could hardly see him. When the many TV cameras were aimed at the runners around Eliud Kipchoge from the front, the Kenyan himself almost went under in his white racing clothes, so close did the tempo runners run in front of the world record holder in the marathon. They protected Kipchoge from the wind, he was screened like a sprinter at the Tour de France. An escort for the fastest long-distance runner in the world.

The escort was for Kipchoge on the entire 42.195 kilometers through the Vienna Prater. About every four kilometers, the Pacemaker alternated, for a round on the 9.6-kilometer circuit ran the Ingebrigsten brothers before Kipchoge. Again and again: fresh and prominent legs on the side of Kipchoge. 41 supporters with 55 medals at the Olympic Games and World Championships came to this challenge - bought for a lot of money. They should help bring this project to the "moon," as Kipchoge had described the experiment.

Kipchoge is now what Neil Armstrong is in the world of spacemen. He has pushed boundaries, broke new ground. The 34-year-old is the first person to have sprinted a marathon in less than two hours. He has managed to run 100 meters in 17 seconds, 422 times in a row. Kipchoge maintained the required race speed of over 21 kilometers per hour and ran an average of 1000 meters in 2:50 minutes. The final result: 1: 59.40 hours.

Sometimes fans tried to keep up with the track, they failed after only a few meters. Even cyclists had a hard time keeping the pace. And even the speed runners let him alone in the last 500 meters to the finish hover.

Ineos' marketing coup has succeeded

The last hour limit in marathon sports no longer exists, at least unofficially. The race in Vienna had not met the requirements of the International Athletics Federation IAAF for an official record run in the marathon. Time and again, new pilots, meals at any time, anywhere along the route - this is forbidden in the IAAF rulebook; a newly asphalted road for this run - that's something no city marathon organizer can afford. The sponsor, who is behind this laboratory test and spending, was not overlooked around the course: "Ineos Challenge 1:59" stood on the many barriers, where the many spectators stood.

CHRISTIAN BRUNA / EPA-EFE / REX

Kipchoge (r.) In the lee of his speed runners

The British chemical company Ineos has spent a million for the run. A project by Nike on the Monza circuit in 2017, in which Kipchoge needed 2: 00.25 hours, should have cost 30 million euros, this trial should have been even more expensive. Ineos is discovering the sport for itself, hoping for a new, positive image. The company has taken over the cycling team Sky and thus holds the winning team of the Tour de France, the OGC Nice from the French football league Ligue 1 is now also part of the portfolio.

Since the magic two-hour limit in marathon sport was not missing, and with Kipchoge there is just this one runner who is so famous that this project can also be marketed. He is the one runner who is credited with this two-hour limit.

How does he do that? Kipchoge dissociates himself from doping, a test was never positive for him. When he talks about his achievements, he always keeps to his conviction: "People have no limit." It was exactly this message he wanted to carry with his run into the world.

There is a lot of work behind the slogan: the Olympic champion of 2016 skims over 220 training kilometers per week, a large part of his preparation takes place in the higher regions of Kenya; where there is a location advantage for endurance athletes. At more than 2000 meters altitude, the body produces more red blood cells. This drives the transport of oxygen, and acts on shallower levels like in Vienna at best like a hidden electric motor.

Never tired Eliud Kipchoge

In the race itself you can see what makes it even more special: for example, the special technology. Kipchoge can cover up to 180 steps per minute, three per second. The midfoot only touches the track for a brief moment. If you do not look closely, you miss the moment. You also have to look closely to discover a hint of fatigue on the face of Kipchoge; when a hobby runner starts at kilometer 35 and the "man with the hammer" comes and the big break begins, Kipchoge often runs his strongest split times in these phases. That was also the case a year ago in Berlin, when he sprinted for the world record from half of the race without a tempo runner.

Such achievements require mental strength, which he once again proved with his run in Vienna. The conditions were perfect, of course, and even the weather, so dreaded in this sport, did not let the runners down. But the pressure with all the advertising dates and millions of investments in the back should have been enormous. Kipchoge has withstood the same. Anyone who saw the pictures in the finish line, all the runners and supporters who carried him on his shoulders, could almost come to this conclusion: the marathon sport has found its king.

And yet: Kipchoge has not set a world record. In the history books remain the 2:01:39 hours of the Berlin Marathon 2018 stand. But next to this time his name appears. Is his quest for excellence now over? At the age of 34, Eliud Kipchoge has not yet arrived at the end of his career. The next, official marathon is coming for him.