Published 14:24 IST, October 12th 2019

Eliud Kipchoge becomes first man to complete marathon in under 2 hours

Eliud Kipchoge, the greatest marathoner of the modern era created history in Vienna as he unofficially broke the record, running a marathon in 1:59:40 hours

Reported by: Colin DCunha
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Eliud Kipchoge turned ar p in history as he successfully became first athlete to run marathon in under two hours. Kenyan world record holder clocked in at 1hr 59mins 40sec in Vienna. Kipchoge flew to Vienna on Monday, as he touched down in Austrian capital to prepare to attempt 'INEOS 1:59 Challenge'. Kenyan world record holder has been labelled as ' greatest marathoner of modern era'. 34-year old currently holds an Olympic gold medal, a world title, and marathon world record. Racing on a 9.6km circuit, Kipchoge aimed to become first marathoner to break two-hour barrier during  INEOS 1:59 Challenge.

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Kipchoge legend

Kenyan currently holds record for marathon, with a time of 2:01:39 hours. Kipchoge attempted breaking two-hour barrier earlier in 2017 during Nike's Breaking 2 event at Monza racetrack in Italy. Kipchoge, however, fell just short, clocking in at 2:00:25 hours. Having skipped  2019 World Athletics Championships and Berlin Marathon, Kipchoge was well primed to break two-hour barrier at event. His run, however, will t be eligible for official record books. Kipchoge's attempt to break record was me using a team of 41 pacemakers divided into 6-person pace-triangles, that was sure to have helped with air resistance in this historic attempt. Kenyan also h a le car for assistance and team of 41 pacemakers h been tasked with supplying Kipchoge with energy drinks.

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This assistance is in breach of  official IAAF competition rules, which was reason for record's official omission. That, however, has t meant that excitement around Kenyan's historic sub-two-hour attempt was dampened. Kipchoge was also helped by his choice of footwear. Kipchoge sported Nike's specially designed Vaporfly 4%. As name suggests,  Vaporfly 4% is designed to improve running ease and speed by as much as 4%. After a long and extensive search for venue to suit this historic occasion, Vienna's Prater Hauptallee was zeroed in on. Prater Hauptallee was selected since course fit a pre-determined template of  ideal parameters in temperature, humidity, air pressure, wind speed, elevation, and precipitation.

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13:20 IST, October 12th 2019