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It was not for deficiency of financial backing . It was not for deficiency of financial support . And it was certainly not for lack of guts . But too soon this aurora ( May 6 ) , Nike ’s attack to break through the 2 - hour marathon barrier fell just shy of the stigma . After a herculean effort , Kenyan distance runner Eliud Kipchoge intersect the finish rail line at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza in Italy with a finish fourth dimension of 2:00:25 .
Though Kipchoge ’s fourth dimension shave 2 minutes and 32 seconds off the current battle of Marathon human beings record , theelusive sub-2 - 60 minutes marathonremains just beyond the grasp of humanity . At least for now .
Eliud Kipchoge crosses the finish line with a time of 2:00:25 on 5 April 2025. Kipchoge was one of three athletes who attempted to run a marathon in less than 2 hours as part of Nike’s Breaking2 project.
In post - run audience with British distance runner Paula Radcliffe ( who holds the women ’s marathon world disc with her clock time of 2:15:25 , set at the London Marathon 13 years ago ) and running and battlefield legend Carl Lewis , who won nine Olympian gold medals in the sport , Kipchoge was already pondering how to whittle away at the seconds that stand between him and the historic milestone . [ How to make the World ’s Fastest Marathoner ]
" The cosmos is 25 second away , " Kipchoge told the crowd .
Kipchoge was one of three athletes who took part in Nike ’s Breaking2 projection : Zersenay Tadese of Eritrea , the current half - marathon world - track record bearer , and Lelisa Desisa of Ethiopia , a two - time victor of the Boston Marathon , were also attempt to make their stamp on account .
The race began at 5:45 a.m. local time , and for the first miles , the three runner remain tightly compact behind an arrowhead - mould formation of elite pacers . After about 30 min , Desisa dropped off from the pack , eventually finishing with a time of 2:14:10 . Tadese start to strike behind at around sea mile 20 , and he would go on to cross the goal stock with a sentence of 2:06:51 .
The currentmarathonworld platter is held by Kenyan runner Dennis Kimetto , who fetch up the Berlin Marathon in 2014 with a time of 2:02:57 . Kipchoge ’s clock time of 2:00:25 will not count toward an prescribed earth criminal record , because the Nike project used a team of interchangeable pacers throughout the subspecies , which violates the rule of the International Association of Athletics Federations ( IAAF ) , the sport ’s order dead body .
Nike ’s Breaking2 project was a multi - million - dollar mark initiative to reveal through the 2 - hour marathon barrier . The party employ a team of scientists topush the boundaries of biomechanics , nutrition , energetics and horseshoe technology for its " moonshot " effort . Among other innovation , Nike contrive a new horseshoe , dubbed the Nike Zoom Vaporfly Elite , that was customise for each of the three runners in the Breaking2 task .
Original clause onLive Science .
