--- title: Eliud Kipchoge Runs Marathon Under Two Hours, Making History description: The 34-year-old Kenyan runner clocked in at race record-breaking 1:59:40.2 at the INEOS 1:59 Challenge in Vienna, Austria. canonical: https://time.com/5699063/eliud-kipchoge-marathon-two-hours/ author: Madeleine Carlisle article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-10-12T15:24:43.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:56:33.141Z article:section: Sports og:title: Eliud Kipchoge Becomes First Person in Recorded History to Run a Marathon in Under 2 Hours og:description: The 34-year-old Kenyan runner clocked in at 1:59:40.2 og:url: https://time.com/5699063/eliud-kipchoge-marathon-two-hours/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta31590a6cde54dca/698a0433929fad600abf50d8/eliud-kipchoge-marathon-two-hours.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: eliud kipchoge marathon two hours og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Eliud Kipchoge Becomes First Person in Recorded History to Run a Marathon in Under 2 Hours twitter:description: The 34-year-old Kenyan runner clocked in at 1:59:40.2 twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta31590a6cde54dca/698a0433929fad600abf50d8/eliud-kipchoge-marathon-two-hours.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Eliud Kipchoge Becomes First Person in Recorded History to Run a Marathon in Under 2 Hours  by [Madeleine Carlisle](/author/madeleine-carlisle/)  ## Madeleine Carlisle Oct 12, 2019 3:24 PM CUT  Eliud Kipchoge celebrates after crossing the finish line at the end of his attempt to bust the mythical two-hour barrier for the marathon on October 12 2019 in Vienna, Austria. Eliud Kipchoge celebrates after crossing the finish line at the end of his attempt to bust the mythical two-hour barrier for the marathon on October 12 2019 in Vienna, Austria.ALEX HALADA—AFP via Getty Images  by [Madeleine Carlisle](/author/madeleine-carlisle/)  ## Madeleine Carlisle Oct 12, 2019 3:24 PM CUT On Saturday, Eliud Kipchoge became the first person in recorded history to run a 26.2-mile marathon in less than two hours. The 34-year-old Kenyan runner clocked in at 1:59:40.2 at the INEOS 1:59 Challenge in Vienna, Austria. The run, organized specifically for Kipchonge to break the two-hour marathon barrier, was organized by chemical company INEOS and featured an electric pacer car that shot a laser beam to [mark the best position](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/kenya-s-eliud-kipchoge-becomes-first-person-run-marathon-under-n1065376 "undefined") on the road. A team of [41 professional runners](https://live.ineos159challenge.com/pacemakers "undefined") also rotated running alongside him to set his pace. > [](https://twitter.com/INEOS159/status/1182933612162945024) “Today we went to the moon and came back to Earth! I am at a loss for words for all the support I have received from all over the world,” Kipchoge tweeted Saturday. “Thank you to all who gave me the opportunity. Asante.” > [](https://twitter.com/EliudKipchoge/status/1182953180432424961)  Kenyans watch a big screen on October 12, 2019, in Nairobi as they celebrate Kenya's Eliud Kipchoge victory. YASUYOSHI CHIBA—AFP via Getty Images  Kenyans watch a big screen on October 12, 2019, in Nairobi as they celebrate Kenya's Eliud Kipchoge victory. SIMON MAINA—AFP via Getty Images Kipchoge is one of the [best male marathon runners](https://www.wired.co.uk/article/eliud-kipchoge-ineos-159-marathon "undefined") in the world. He has won at least eight major world marathons and three Olympic medals. His history-making accomplish won’t be in the official record book though; The New York _Times_ [reports](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/12/sports/eliud-kipchoge-marathon-record.html "undefined") that Kipchoge’s time won’t be recognized as an official world record because it was not run under open marathon conditions (Kipchoge was the only person running) and featured a constant rotation of pacers. But not to worry. Kipchoge still holds the [world record](https://www.iaaf.org/news/press-release/world-records-ratified-kipchoge-mayer "undefined") for men’s marathon from his 2:01:39 time in the Berlin Marathon 2018. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5699063/eliud-kipchoge-marathon-two-hours/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5699063/eliud-kipchoge-marathon-two-hours/"},"headline":"Eliud Kipchoge Becomes First Person in Recorded History to Run a Marathon in Under 2 Hours","datePublished":"2019-10-12T15:24:43.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:56:33.141Z","description":"\"Today we went to the Moon and came back to earth! I am at a loss for words for all the support I have received from all over the world,\" Kipchoge tweeted Saturday.","url":"https://time.com/5699063/eliud-kipchoge-marathon-two-hours/","keywords":["Austria","Running","World Record","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta31590a6cde54dca/698a0433929fad600abf50d8/eliud-kipchoge-marathon-two-hours.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Madeleine Carlisle","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/madeleine-carlisle/"}],"articleSection":"Sports","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta31590a6cde54dca/698a0433929fad600abf50d8/eliud-kipchoge-marathon-two-hours.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"eliud kipchoge marathon two hours","caption":"eliud kipchoge marathon two hours","creditText":"ALEX HALADA—AFP via Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/sports/","name":"Sports"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/austria/","name":"Austria"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5699063/eliud-kipchoge-marathon-two-hours/","name":"Eliud Kipchoge Becomes First Person in Recorded History to Run a Marathon in Under 2 Hours"}}]}] ```