By Duncan Mlanjira
Famous Kenyan runner becomes the first person to run the marathon in less than two hours, clocking in at 1:59:40 although the feat will not count as a world record, according to the world athletics body.
Kipchoge holds the official marathon record — a time of 2:01:39 set at the Berlin Marathon same period last year.
Reports say the Kenyan Olympic marathon champion and world record holder completed a course around Vienna’s Prater Park on a cool, misty and windless autumnal morning on Saturday.
In a previous race
He was also supported by 36 pacemakers, who accompanied him in alternating groups and is probably one of the reasons the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) will not ratify the time as an official world record.
While it does not count as an official world record due to the use of rotating pacemakers and a guide car, the Kenyan’s achievement is remarkable, averaging a pace of four and a half minutes per mile to breach the two hour barrier.
The reports also say Kipchoge previously fell 25 seconds shy of the mark in Italy in 2017, but with an improved, larger group of pacemakers supporting him, and crowds lining the Vienna circuit giving him an extra boost, he was able to improve his time by nearly half-a-minute to break a barrier that once seemed impenetrable.