The 2 Hour Marathon- Anthony Del Coro

On October 12th, 2019 what was thought to be impossible was done. Eliud Kipchogen broke the 2-hour mark for completing a marathon. He crossed the finish line in at an astonishing time of 1:59:40! For centuries, the 2-hour mark had defined what is possible and what was classified as impossible in marathon running. It has been a barrier that no one was able to break through until Kipchogen. In order to brake such a prestigious milestone, everything had to be perfect: the course, the weather, the pacing, everything. This race was extremely calculated and laid out perfectly to break the 2-hour mark. It was in Vienna, Austria. on the longest and flattest stretch of road, that this accomplishment was achieved. In front of Kipchogen, there was a car that projected lasers on to the ground to set the pace. This was in addition to the six other pacer runners that ran with Kipchogen and who were switched out periodically. If he was going to beat the mile-stone, his pacing was crucial. He had to run a 4:34 pace for the entire 26.2 miles! Unfortunately, of all of this planning and precision, it does not count as a world record.  It was run more just to prove that it is possible. Similarly, four minute mile time was a mile-stone that was waiting to be broken; until someone broke it, it was thought to be impossible. In 1954 Roger Bannister broke the 4-minute mile and after this, more and more people started braking through this barrier even though it was thought to be impossible. And now there are people in high school running a 4-minute mile. So hopefully, because of this, we will start seeing many more people braking through this 2 hour marathon barrier just like the 4-minute mile.