To the moon and back in less than two hours | Running – Tallahassee Democrat

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“Together, when we run, we can make this world a beautiful world,” Eliud Kipchoge said after finishing the INEOS 1:59 Challenge in 1:59:40.2 on Oct. 12 in Vienna.

At 5’ 6,” 125 pounds, Eliud Kipchoge does not strike fear into the hearts of others who might be walking in front of or behind him on a sidewalk. But put the 34-year-old in motion in a marathon and watch his metronomic stride power the rest of his “built for marathon running body,” and you see something very special and, for competitors at least, intimidating.

Special enough to carry him to 11 wins in 12 attempts at the marathon distance, including a gold medal in the Rio Olympics, the world marathon record (2:01:39) at the 2018 Berlin Marathon, and victories in eight Marathon Majors. Kipchoge is generally recognized as the greatest marathon runner of all times. Another Olympic gold in Tokyo and the acclaim may be unanimous.

I understand the skepticism over this attempt at a sub 2-hour marathon; for a while perhaps, I even shared it. But then I started to listen to what the Sports Philosopher King, as Kipchoge has sometimes been called, had to say. And then I heard what those who know him best had to say about the man and I started to understand just what he has done and why this step was so important to him.

Kipchoge was born in 1984 in Kapsisiywa, in the Nandi District of Kenya.  He never knew his father and was raised by his mother, a teacher, along with two brothers and two sisters. Things were difficult as a teacher’s salary left them poor.  

In primary school, Kipchoge ran 5 or 6 kilometers (3-4 miles) to and from school up to four times a day. He told writer Jurg Wirz in a story written for the IAAF: “I was always running. You know, the time is limited, so if you don’t run you don’t have enough time.” He competed in distance running in secondary school, but was not that interested and was not much better than an average runner.

We can never know if he might have been lost in the confusion if not for Patrick Sang.  Sang described it this way: “There was this kid who would come and ask me for a training program,” Sang said in an interview recently. “So, every two weeks, I would give him a program to follow, and this went on for months.” 

Kipchoge eventually entered a regional race and won a 10K. Sang finally asked the boy’s name and discovered that Eliud’s mother had been Sang’s kindergarten teacher. Sang, an Olympic silver medalist in the steeplechase, then gave Kipchoge a stopwatch for training. A bond was formed that still exists today and Sang is still Kipchoge’s coach.

Sang followed by saying: “When you’re young, you always hope that one day you’ll be somebody,” Sang said. “And in that journey, you need someone to hold you by the hand. It does not matter who that person is, so long as they believe that your dreams are valid. So, for me, when you find a young person with a passion, don’t disappoint them. Give them a helping hand and see them grow.”

Kipchoge’s first effort to break 2 hours fell short as he became the face and best hope for the Nike Breaking2 project. Nike had identified three runners (Kipchoge, Zersenay Tadesse and Lelisa Desisa) in November of 2016 to train for the event. The event was held on May 6, 2017 on the Formula One Autodromo Nazionale Monza racetrack in Italy. There were also 30 pacers. Only one of the three runners finished near the 2-hour mark. Kipchoge missed by 25 seconds, while Tadese ran 2:06:56 and Desisa ran 2:14:10.

Kipchoge’s success has earned him millions of dollars and his humble way of responding to others has earned him the adoration of other athletes and many fans in his home country. He thrives off of a simple formula he has written down: Motivation + Discipline = Consistency.

That plan is executed in part by spending as much as six months a year in training camp where he also participates in camp chores taking his turn at everything including cleaning the toilets.

On Oct. 12, 2019, Kipchoge was put on perhaps the brightest stage a marathon runner has ever occupied. For the second time he was stepping into the limelight by announcing he was going to try and run the marathon distance in less than two hours, something no other human has done and probably, as his first attempt showed, no more than a very small number of runners (if any) could even come close to accomplishing.

The venue this time was to be the Viennese Park where the road passes over the Danube River. The course was a 9.6-kilometer loop course.

For Kipchoge, running is ultimately about more than medals and world records. He has those. “When I run,” he told reporters, “I feel good. My mind feels good, I sleep in a free way and I enjoy life.” He believes running, especially the quest for a sub 2-hour marathon, creates opportunities where the human body and mind can push through current limits and create new goals. INEOS 1:59 was not about setting a world record, it was about breaking down barriers and bringing people together. 

This second event belonged to INEOS and its founder Jim Ratcliff. To give a runner their best chance, all the details had to be covered. Ratcliff purportedly has a net worth of $32 billion and he likes to have fun. His recent purchases have included a sailing team to compete in the America’s Cup, a cycling team, Team Sky (remember Chris Froome?), and a soccer team. Despite their very different lifestyles and upbringing Kipchoge and Ratcliff have hit if off superbly.

Perhaps the most amazing part of the entire project were the pacing team. Built around the same pacing techniques that cyclists use, a team had seven runners on it. Talented runners that had to maintain a pace equal to 17 seconds for every 100 meters, 68 for 400 meters, and 4:34 for each mile. 

Believing it to be a special honor to serve as a pacer, elite athletes such as Bernard Lagat and Matthew Centrowitz, Paul Chelimo, the Ingebrigtsen brothers and many others ran. They ran in what I would call an X formation, although it more often is called a V formation. The captain of each pace team ran immediately in front of Kipchoge.  Immediately in front of them were two runners spread like the start of a V and then two in front of them. Two runners ran behind Kipchoge spread like the legs of an X. 

Kipchoge put on a show. His fastest kilometer was 2:48 and his slowest was 2:52.  He needed somewhere between 2:50 and 2:51 to break two hours. No wonder he thinks our limits are an invitation to do something special.

David Yon is addicted to running. In his spare time, he is an attorney with the Radey Law Firm.

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