Yay, Good News, He Did It!

Yesterday I was reading about the Vienna marathon that took place today, this morning to be exact. I was reading an article about the Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge, who was planning to set up a new world record, to run the marathon under 2 hours.

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The news made me smile not because I don't respect him or the runners, but because I remembered a chat I had with one of my fellow runner from Vienna a few years back. Vienna Marathon is a very respected event among amateurs but professionals as well. Many amateur runners are taking part every year, even traveling thousands of kilometers and professionals as well as they see it as a good way to test themselves. The track is a very good one as there's no elevation, the temperature is also ideal as it's under 10°C, which is perfect for running.

As I was saying, a lot op my fellow runners were going from Hungry and even Romania. They were discussing details, sharing previous experiences. They were hoping to finish under 4 hours and one of them told the others not to worry about the pace as when they finish the race the Ethiopians and Kenyans will be already sipping champagne on the plane on their way home :). They knew exactly these professionals will lead the race and will finish very early compared to the rest.

Today I was checking the news to see if Eliud Kipchoge could finish under two hours and the news finally came. He did it!!! I was so happy for him, even though his record will not be recorded officially. It is still a great achievement, a great success for him. He said this would be like when the first man had stepped on the moon (Neil Armstrong
On July 20, 1969) for the first time. He said he wants to prove it's possible and he just did it. 26.2 miles in 1 hour, 59 minutes and 40 seconds, that's what he was able to achieve today and he's the fastest man on 42km (26.2 miles) today.

I was watching the Italian news and they said Eliud Kipchoge was raised by a single mother and he had to run 3km to school every day. That's why he started running.

Now he has a task to do, he needs to repeat what he did today in an official competition for this result to be recorded officially by IAAF.

The difference between here and an official race is that in Vienna Kipchoge was helped by a group of pacemakers who followed him and in front of him there was a pace car emitting a green laser to help keep time. This is not allowed in official competitions, so he won't have this advantage plus the weather could be another factor that can make or break his performance. A higher temperature can cause him to be more slow.

In any case hats off, I have a great respect for him and he won't be able to repeat today's performance in the next official race, he's still a hero in my eyes. He's the marathon world record holder (2 hours, 1 minute and 39 seconds) that was set in Berlin in 2018. Well done Kipchoge!