Marathon
The stats behind the Kenyan runner’s historic 1:59:40 run in Vienna.
For most of us, the fact that Eliud Kipchoge ran 26.2 miles in less than two hours is yet to sink in.
It’s such a historic and far-reaching moment that it will take some time to realise exactly what was achieved on the morning of October 12 in Vienna by the 34-year-old Kenyan runner. Although not an official world record, and in some quarters even controversial due to the unique nature of the setup, it still smashed through the barriers of what was previously thought physically possible by an elite athlete.
For Kipchoge, his whole life had been leading to that moment. The current world record holder for the marathon (2:01:39 in Berlin, 2018), it wasn’t his first attempt at going sub-2. In 2017, Nike sponsored him and two other runners (Zersenay Tadese and Lelisa Desisa) in the Breaking2 attempt. They ran on the Monza race circuit in Italy, with pacers in a diamond formation. Kipchoge came in at a fraction over two hours – 2:00:25. History was not made that day.
But Kipchoge was not done. He and his team examined his performance. He knew there was room for improvement. The experience of Breaking2 led him to realise what needed refining to increase his time by 26 seconds. And perhaps, more importantly, it confirmed in his mind that it was possible.
One thing he was certain would make a difference was having a crowd – in Monza, there were only spectators around the finish line, which he looped past 17 times on the 1.5-mile circuit. The rest of the time he was running around an eerily silent race track with no crowd and no encouragement.
This time, things were different. It’s estimated 120,000 fans lined the streets of Vienna on 12 October, cheering Kipchoge along in a deafening roar, and his historic run has now been viewed more than 5 million times on YouTube.
It was one of many factors that combined to spur Kipchoge on to smash the seemingly unbreakable barrier, with his final time of 1:59:40. Here are some stats that put his performance into perspective:
1. He averaged 4:35 a mile (or 2:50 per kilometre) for 26.2 miles
By anyone’s standards, that is fast. The current mile record stands at 3:43, and 4:35 would have secured Kipchoge the mile world record in the 1850s.
2. That meant he ran at an average speed of 13.1mph (21.18kph)
Turn your treadmill up to that speed next time you’re in the gym and see how long you last… Chances are it will be around 20-30 seconds. In fact, most cyclists commuting to work would feel that 13.1mph was a fast speed to cycle at, let alone run.
3. He ran 100 metres in 17.2 seconds – 422 times
Or 400m in 68 seconds, 105 times. However you look at it, Kipchoge’s own mantra could not be more fitting: “Beyond the limits”.
4. His average 5km time was 14:12
To put that into perspective, only four Parkruns have been run in a quicker time in the 15 years and 51,363,611 runs since Parkrun began. The current 5,000m record, held by Kenenisa Bekele, is 12:37.
5. He was paced by a rotating group of 41 world-class athletes
These pacers were a who’s who of middle-distance running, and included Olympic medallists (including Bernard Lagat, Paul Chelimo and Matthew Centrowitz), Ethiopia’s Selemon Barega, who won the 5,000m silver medal at the 2019 World Championships in Doha, the Ingerbrigsten brothers from Norway and Uganda’s Ronald Musagala, who won the Diamond League 1,500m twice in 2019.
Five of them formed a reverse arrow shape to help cut down the headwind that Kipchoge would be running into, with two at the back to provide pressure and keep Kipchoge running along if he slipped off the pace. They worked in shifts, swapping every 5km to keep them fresh.
It was calculated before the event that the pacers would help shave 1min 52secs off his time by eliminating drag compared to if he was running on his own.
6. They followed an electric pace car driving at 2:50 per km
The electric pace car had transponders on the roof to calculate distance and pace, giving an accuracy of 0.2 metres over the entire distance. The car then drove 15m ahead of the pacers on cruise control, which race sponsor INEOS claimed had been fine-tuned to be more accurate than that of an average vehicle. It emitted a green pace line to its rear via lasers for the pacers to follow – this line was about 10 seconds ahead of 1:59:59 pace to allow for error.
7. There was only 2.4 metres of incline over the entire route
The route in Austria’s capital city was meticulously scouted, studied and chosen due to its near-perfect altitude, climate and terrain – Vienna is just 193m above sea level, meaning that oxygen is in plentiful supply. It was also within a time zone near to Kipchoge’s in Kenya – Vienna is only one hour behind, meaning that his sleep and training routine was not affected.
The 9.6km route, which Kipchoge looped just over four times, was almost completely flat and straight, with two roundabouts at either end. This was ideal, as it’s been shown that running in a straight line produces faster times than running around curves (it’s thought the minimal curves on this route cost Kipchoge less than five seconds’ time).
The route between the roundabouts rose and fell by roughly 3m per loop, which it was calculated slowed Kipchoge by about 10 seconds over the entire race. However, the start of the race began at a slightly higher elevation, which gained him 13 seconds of time as he ran down it.
8. Nike’s Next% shoes boosted his speed by one percent over the brand’s Vaporfly 4%
Kipchoge was wearing a Nike prototype trainer, currently unavailable to the running world at large. Named the ZoomX Vaporfly Next%, they contain the latest version of the controversial carbon-fibre plate (there are claims there are three plates in this new design) that helps spring athletes forward by capturing more of the recoil – the previous Vaporfly model is said to boost performance by 4%. In addition, these new prototypes are claimed to be 15g lighter and don’t absorb as much moisture, which also adds weight during the run.
9. He had an eight-day window to get the perfect weather conditions
As well as housing the perfect route and time difference, Vienna was chosen due to its early October weather being relatively mild, low in humidity and clean air. The temperature at the start was 9°C, and had warmed to 11°C by the end – pretty much ideal running conditions. Humidity was low, which meant that moisture would not soak Kipchoge’s clothing and add unnecessary weight as well as reducing traction with the road surface. It was also calculated that the optimum time window was between 5am and 10am to begin the run – the 8.15am start was deemed the perfect time, temperature-wise.
10. He ran 140 miles a week during his training
Kipchoge has worked towards this milestone since winning the London Marathon in April, building up specifically to the attempt in the past four months with his long-time coach Patrick Sang, during which he ran 124-140 miles a week at altitude in Kaptagat in Kenya. Part of that was doing intense fartlek runs at shorter distances on a hard-packed 400m track. He also spent time doing strength and conditioning, specifically on his core strength, which he didn’t do in the run-up to Breaking2.
He also worked hard on his mental preparation, reading self-help books. Before the race, he truly believed he could do it. And that belief paid off.
