Athletics: Six Ugandans Set Pace As Kipchoge Writes History

October 12, 2019
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Six Ugandan athletes were among the 42 pacesetters as Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge defied odds to write history.

Kipchoge, on Saturday morning, clocked 1:59.40 to become the first athlete to run a marathon in under two hours in the Ineos 1:59 challenge held in Austria’s capital, Vienna.

However, Kipchoge’s achievement will not be recognised as a world-record because it is not in open competition and it used in and and out pacemakers.

?? 1954 Roger Bannister breaks the 4-minute mile

?? 1969 Neil Armstrong walks on the moon

?? 2009 @UsainBolt runs 100m in 09.58

?? 2019 @EliudKipchoge runs a sub two-hour marathon#INEOS159 #NoHumanIsLimited pic.twitter.com/HMXnxRohE3
— INEOS 1:59 Challenge (@INEOS159) October 12, 2019

Abdallah Mande, Ronald Musagala, Jacob Kiplimo, Thomas Ayeko, Mande Bushendich, Timothy Torotoich and Mande Bushendich were the Ugandans who were used as rotating pacemakers.

Kipchoge is the marathon world-record holder and considered one of the greatest distance runners of all time.

Its should be noted that Kipchoge holds the official marathon world record of 2:01:39, set in Berlin, Germany in 2018.

Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge becomes the first athlete to run a marathon in under two hours, completing the 26.2 miles in 1:59:40

"Together, we can make this world a beautiful place.," Kipchoge. pic.twitter.com/LWOFfIBBhF
— Brian Kawalya ?? (@BrianKawalya1) October 12, 2019

Kipchoge had missed out on breaking the two-hour mark by 26 seconds in Monza in May 2017 where he received drinks from a moving motorbike rather than having to collect them from a table.