Breaking2

Attendees

Eliud Kipchoge

Zersenay Tadese

Lelisa Desisa

Breaking2 was a Nike project with the goal of running a marathon under two hours. Nike announced the project in November 2016 and organized a team of three elite marathon runners who trained for a private race. This took place on 6 May 2017 the Formula 1 -distance Autodromo Nazionale di Monza in Italy instead.

Eliud Kipchoge won the race with a time of 2:00:25 hours. Although the current world record at that time was 2:02:57 hours, this time was not counted as a new world record, as Kipchoge and the other two elite athletes ran among other things with several changing pacemakers .

Attendees

Nike selected three different runners for this attempt:

Surname	nationality	Date of birth	Age at the time of the run	Previous marathon best
Lelisa Desisa	Ethiopia	January 14, 1990	27 years	2:04:45 hours
Eliud Kipchoge	Kenya	5th November 1984	32 years	2:03:05 hours
Zersenay Tadese	Eritrea	February 8, 1982	35 years	2:10:41 hours

At this point, Kipchoge was the current Olympic champion as he won the marathon at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro . Tadese was the world record holder of the half marathon with 58:23 minutes , which he set at the 2010 Lisbon half marathon .

In addition, 30 of the world's best runners ran as pacemakers. These included, for example, Andrew Bumbalough , Sam Chelanga , Chris Derrick , Bernard Lagat , and Lopez Lomong .

preparation

Nike released a new shoe, named "Vapor Fly Elite" for this attempt. The route was chosen based on a combination of several positive conditions. These include the low altitude above sea level, which has a higher oxygen content, the moderate weather conditions and the short lap length of the route. In addition to a vehicle in front of the runners, several pacemakers ran in front of the athletes to reduce the drag caused by the wind.

run

The race started on Saturday, May 6, 2017 at 5:45 am with a temperature of 12 ° C or 54 ° F (an overall higher temperature than the optimal temperature for a marathon) and light rain.

A pace of 2:50 min / km is necessary to break the two-hour barrier. To achieve this, the runners followed a team of six pacers in a triangular formation, which in turn followed a pace vehicle. The vehicle had a large clock showing the racing time. It also projected a green laser onto the ground to indicate where the lead pacer should be at any given time. The Pacers only ran two laps (4.8 km) each and had a 30-minute break between each shift. So the Pacers took turns constantly.

The runners started at the correct speed, but Desisa fell behind after about 10 miles. Tadese followed him after about 20 km. Kipchoge continued to run at the specified speed until kilometer 25 (at 1:11:03) and was only one second behind after 30 km. Kipchoge achieved a target time of 2:00:25 and then said he had given 100 percent.

Results

position	athlete	nationality	time
1	Eliud Kipchoge	Kenya	2:00:25
2	Zersenay Tadese	Eritrea	2:06:51
3	Lelisa Desisa	Ethiopia	2:14:10

At that time, the world record set by Dennis Kimetto at the 2014 Berlin Marathon was 2:02:57 . Although Kipchoge improved this time by more than two minutes, his result is not recognized as an official IAAF world record because, for example, changing pacemakers is not allowed during the race.

consequences

documentation

Shortly after the race, Nike announced that a documentary that would be released at the end of the summer would be produced due to a partnership with National Geographic . This was published on September 21, 2017 on the National Geographic YouTube channel . At this point in time, the documentation is only available from Disney + .

Subsequent successful attempt

In 2019, Kipchoge teamed up with Ineos to run the Ineos 1:59 Challenge , a new attempt to break the two-hour mark. The attempt was successful and Kipchoge reached the goal with a time of 1: 59: 40.2. However, this time was not recognized as a world record for the same reasons as with Breaking2.

Web links

• Nike Introduces Breaking2 December 12, 2016
• Documentation from National Geographic at Disney +

Individual evidence

1. ^ Ed Caesar: Nike's Trying to Build a Sub-Two-Hour Marathoner, and We're Along for the Run. In: Wired . December 12, 2016, ISSN  1059-1028 ( wired.com [accessed May 25, 2020]).
2. ↑ Alex Hutchinson: Nike's Audacious Plan: Break the 2-Hour Marathon Barrier in 2017. December 12, 2016, accessed May 25, 2020 (American English). 
3. ^ Ross Tucker, Ph.D .: The sub-2 hour marathon in 2017? Thoughts on concept . The Science of Sport. December 12, 2016. Retrieved May 12, 2017.
4. ↑ ^{a b} Interactive: A look at how three marathoners could break the sub-2hr barrier on May 6 (en) . In: The Straits Times . Retrieved May 12, 2017. 
5. ↑ Jon Mulkeen: Kipchoge a 'happy man' in Monza , IAAF. May 6, 2017. Retrieved May 12, 2017. 
6. ↑ Ed Caeser: Nike's Quest to Beat the Two-Hour Marathon Comes Up Oh So Short . In: Wire . Wired. May 6, 2017. Retrieved February 9, 2020.
7. ↑ Ali Nolan: So Close! Kipchoge Runs a 2:00:25 in the Breaking2 Attempt. Retrieved May 6, 2017, May 25, 2020 (American English). 
8. ↑ Scorching 58:23 world half marathon record by Tadese in Lisbon | News. Retrieved May 25, 2020 (English). 
9. ↑ Ali Nolan: So Close! Kipchoge Runs a 2:00:25 in the Breaking2 Attempt. Retrieved May 6, 2017, May 25, 2020 (American English). 
10. ↑ Erin Strout: What It Was Like to Pace the Fastest Marathon in History. May 9, 2017, Retrieved May 25, 2020 (American English). 
11. ↑ Nike Zoom VaporFly Elite: the shoe of Breaking2 you can't buy. ( en ) In: www.runningshoesguru.com . Retrieved November 29, 2017.
12. ↑ Matt Burgess: If you missed Nike's two-hour marathon attempt you can relive it here . In: Wired UK . May 10, 2017, ISSN  1357-0978 ( wired.co.uk [accessed May 25, 2020]).
13. ↑ Can the marathon's two-hour barrier be broken? . In: Economist , October 4, 2017. Retrieved October 1, 2018. 
14. ↑ Erin Strout: What It Was Like to Pace the Fastest Marathon in History. May 9, 2017, Retrieved May 25, 2020 (American English). 
15. ↑ Ali Nolan: So Close! Kipchoge Runs a 2:00:25 in the Breaking2 Attempt. Retrieved May 6, 2017, May 25, 2020 (American English). 
16. ^ Kipchoge falls 26 seconds short of first sub two-hour marathon. Retrieved June 6, 2017, June 12, 2020 (Australian English). 
17. ↑ Nike Celebrates its Breaking2 Results. Retrieved June 12, 2020 . 
18. ↑ Breaking2: Stream a marathon in 2 hours | Full movie | Disney +. Retrieved May 25, 2020 .