The four-minute mile. Free soloing El Capitan. The first man on the moon. To that illustrious list of human achievements we can now add ‘the sub-two marathon’. When Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge broke the tape in Vienna, 1 hour 59 minutes and 40 seconds after he started, something forever changed in marathon running. A barrier broken, a dream become a reality.
That it was Kipchoge, the greatest marathon runner in history, felt appropriate. The Kenyan, who has won 12 of the 13 marathons he’s entered, has been fixated on the sub-two barrier for years. And let’s not forget how close he came on his first attempt, in May 2017 in Monza, when he ran 2:00:25.
Training had been relentless. One hundred and forty miles a week at high altitude. Punishing speed sessions. Strength training. Yet it was perhaps Kipchoge’s mental strength, rather than his supreme physical fitness, that proved decisive in Vienna. ‘Some people believe it is impossible,’ he said before the event. ‘I respect their views; they should respect mine. My team and I believe it is possible: we will prove them wrong.’
Marathon running is a lonely pursuit, particularly when you’re at the top. Yet this was not a one-man show. Just as Bannister had Brasher and Chataway to push him towards the four-minute mile, Kipchoge had a host of high-profile pacers, including the Ingebrigtsen brothers and Bernard Lagat, running themselves ragged to keep him on target.
Was it ever in doubt? Certainly, Kipchoge is the master of the poker face, smiling through the pain and making 4:35min/miles look relatively effortless. But going where no runner has been before requires a level of physical and mental fortitude beyond the imagining of most.
Kipchoge managed it, all in pursuit of a dream. And what a privilege to bear witness to it: the greatest marathoner of all time proving that nothing is impossible.
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