October will see Kipchoge heading to Vienna to take on the challenge
The city of Vienna has been picked as the location for Kipchoge’s second attempt at breaking the two-hour marathon.
It’s not the first time Kipchoge has tried to break the two-hour marathon with his first attempt taking place as part of Breaking2 in Monza, a project set up by Nike in November 2016 where he finished with a time of 2.00.25.
The Venice location will see Kipchoge running the marathon on a multi-lap, 9.6km course centred on Hauptallee, the iconic long, straight and tree-lined avenue which runs through the heart of The Prater.
Each lap will feature Kipchoge running two 4.3km out-and-back stretches of Hauptallee with the turning points coming at the Lusthaus and Praterstern roundabouts at either end of the avenue.
Although the event is due to take place on Saturday 12 October, a reserve window of eight days is scheduled until the 20th October to allow for possible issues like poor weather conditions.
Vienna was chosen after an extensive, global search because it provides a fast and flat track, a straight road, consistently good weather conditions in October, fresh air (the park is described as the ‘green lung of Vienna’) and the ability to have supporters lining the route.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe, Founder and Chairman of INEOS says, “Eliud Kipchoge is the greatest ever marathon runner and the only athlete in the world who has any chance of beating the two-hour time. We are going to give him every support and hopefully witness sporting history”.
Eliud will be supported by his long-term coach, Patrick Sang. “As Eliud showed in Monza, when he came within touching distance of achieving what many had previously thought impossible, he is a truly special athlete with incredible levels of mental resolve,” explains Patrick. “Throughout his dazzling marathon career, he has pushed the event to a new stratosphere and with the right preparation, I believe he has the ability to make history.”
When asked about the attempt, Eliud Kipchoge said “I learnt a lot from my previous attempt and I truly believe that I can go 26 seconds faster than I did in Monza two years ago. It gives me great pride to accept the challenge presented by INEOS. I am very excited about the months of good preparation to come and to show the world that when you focus on your goal, when you work hard and when you believe in yourself, anything is possible”
