From what just happened in Vienna, one can think of anything that people think is impossible to accomplish, like flying by flapping your hands vigorously. Set their mind on doing it, believe in themself, and they will just be able to do that!
The greatest of all time, Eliud Kipchoge just did exactly that on 12th October 2019 in Vienna while running to inspire the human race that “no human is limited.”
Despite having listed the six reasons in my recent article in the lead up to this challenge as to why I thought Kipchoge was definitely going to run under two hours in Vienna, it was almost unimaginable seeing him maintaining such a crazy pace consistently throughout to entire 42.2km.
The average pace used in Vienna is still hard to comprehend
His average and consistent pace of around 2:50/km was simply hard to grasp. I could imagine doing some 1000m intervals on a track of 3:00/km and how much I would need to recover before repeating another interval.
And, even if there would be enough recovery of over five minutes in between the intervals, it would have been extremely hard for any other elite runner, forget about the average runner, to do more than twelve repetitions at that speed. Kipchoge was doing forty-two 2:50/km intervals with zero seconds of recovery in between them in Vienna!
As he usually does when he is in superb form, Kipchoge ran so close behind the pacesetters, almost appearing as though they were actually restricting him from going any faster rather than urging him to keep the pace. He had a total of seven pace setters at every point of the race that kept stepping out as others came to replace them at different points on the course.
Kipchoge looked very calm, in the middle, cushioned by the fact that he was already ten seconds inside the targeted finish time. He might have had a little bit more in his tank, but there was perhaps no need for him to risk going out too fast and fading in the end.
With 500m to go, the pacesetters left Kipchoge alone to sprint for the finish line. He even began to run faster, and the projected time of 1:59.49 quickly came down to 1:59.40 in those last few hundred meters, a sure indication that Kipchoge still had some more energy left in him.
His wife was there at the finish line to hug him, after he had pointed to fans on both sides of the course as though to tell them, “This is for you!” He had thumbed his chest and raised his hands as he crossed the finish line in his typical winning style.
Celebrations had erupted in Vienna and across the country in Kenya, and across the world. It was a historic moment. Some could not help but shed tears of joy as they watched history being made.
What a time to have been alive!
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