How world class pacers ushered Eliud Kipchoge into history

A race that captured the attention of the world delivered a moment that will remain etched in the history books forever as Eliud Kipchoge finally broke athletics’ last greatest barrier at Prater Park in Vienna, Austria.

The G.O.A.T stopped the timer at a staggering 1:59:40, becoming the first human being to run a marathon under 2 hours and achieving his ‘moon landing’ mission at the specially organised INEOS Challenge.

No human is Limited, he said before the race in the streets of Vienna, Austria. It was evident how confident he was towards this race but what really pushed him beyond this mark?

Well obviously it’s because Kipchoge is a supreme athlete but credit to the set of world class pacesetters for their smooth transitioning throughout the race.

Brett Robinson who captained the third team of Pacesseters was just an example of how they made a dream impossible overturned as he prepared the rest of his colleagues to keep the momentum going without distracting Kipchoge.

With their help, Kipchoge hit the 10K mark in just 28mins 20 seconds and the projected time before start was 28.26.

Nevertheless, at 21km of coverage, Kipchoge was already eleven seconds inside the projected time and all this would have not been achieved had it not be the good communication between the pacesetters and the laser car which was responsible in setting the pace for Kipchoge in Vienna.

At 29K ,the race was at 13.3mph which was the highest speed achieved since the race started, ensuring he completed 30K at 1.37.06 secs.

Organisers had engaged the meteorological authorities in Vienna to anticipate any weather forecasts. First it was foggy and it began to rain mid-race but the pacesetters stayed true to the execution of the plan.

It was no coincidence that Bernard Lagat was part of the final group of pacesetters to lead Kipchoge to the final straight. He ensured that at 1.53.44, 40KM were already covered and this drove more energy for Kipchoge to be on the track of the leading team.

Credit to the pacesetters and Kipchoge’s resilience, power and energy as well as to the fans for setting an incredible atmosphere.

Last but not least, her wife Grace and the three children were for the very first time watching Kipchoge in the streets of Vienna and this can only bring motivation to him. He knew the country was behind him but most notably, he kept his head calm, he kept believing .