The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games are coming to an end. However, the last day of the Games is also the day of one of the most anticipated events: the marathon. This year, the expectations are high, as Eliud Kipchoge, arguably the greatest male marathoner ever, will be looking to win gold and to break his own world record.
The 34-year old runner not only has won 11 of his 12 races over 26.2 miles, as he’s also the current Olympic champion, and the world record holder (2:01:39). But he’s also the only man who has run the marathon distance in under 2 hours. A thing that scientists used to believe was impossible.
He did in October 2019, in a special time trial in Vienna, completing the 26.2 miles in 1:59:40. The time doesn’t count as an official record because it wasn't part of an officially sanctioned race and he used pacemakers that rotated in and out of the run. What pace did Kiepchoge have to run that fast?
What is Eliud Kipchoge’s marathon pace?
To run the marathon under 2 hours, Kipchoge's pace was 4:34.5 per mile. That’s 2:50 minutes per kilometer. As wired.co.uk reports, that means that each of Kipchoge’s kilometers were between 2:48min/km and 2:52min/km, and he at no point fell behind his target of 1:59:59.
The numbers are impressive. But, of course, it was possible due to the controlled environment of the attempt. His pacemakers ran in an “arrow” position, even with the help of a custom-built electric pacing car driving ahead of the runners.
In April, Kipchoge finished a marathon in the Netherlands with a time of 2:04:30, after losing in October 2020 the London marathon. "I am still hungry for running in the Olympic Games and winning a gold medal, so I still feel fresh every time I wake up," he told reporters after that race.
