While men’s marathons are becoming increasingly popular across the world, Dennis Kimetto's record remains unbroken. He set his record time of 2:02:57 at the Berlin Marathon in 2014 and became one of the few people to have broken the 2:04 barrier. The first was the great Haile Gebrselassie in 2008 with a time of 2:03:59. The question of whether the Marathon can be run in 2 hours or less has been occupying many athletes and commentators, and the opinions are divided. Much of the debate is centered around whether it is humanly possible to run almost three minutes faster over a 26.2 mile distance.
Nike Says Yes!
Nike for one believes that with the right optimization of training, equipment and race conditions it is indeed possible. And they intend to stand behind their word. They have chosen three of the best marathon runners around to test their theory. Lelisa Desisa of Ethiopia, Zersenay Tadese of Eritrea and Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya have been selected to break the barrier, in Nike's 2017 Breaking2 project.
The trio is expected to run the distance in a controlled setting such as a closed track or road course outside of a typical marathon race environment. Nike’s co-founder and famed track coach, Bill Bowerman once stated that “The real purpose of running isn’t to win a race, it’s to test the limits of the human heart.” In Breaking2 Nike aims to unlock human potential and it’s hard not to get excited about it.
The trio is expected to run the distance in a controlled setting such as a closed track or road course outside of a typical marathon race environment. Nike’s co-founder and famed track coach, Bill Bowerman once stated that “The real purpose of running isn’t to win a race, it’s to test the limits of the human heart.” In Breaking2 Nike aims to unlock human potential and it’s hard not to get excited about it.
Breaking the standing world record involves reducing the time by almost 3%. This translates to running roughly 7 seconds per mile faster at an average speed of 4:34 per mile. It's a leap, it's extremely ambitious, but is it conceivable? With perfect conditions it may be, we will just have to wait and see.
