O
CTOBER 12-13 promises
to be a huge marathon
weekend, with Eliud
Kipchoge poised to attackthe two-hour barrier in a time trial in
Vienna, while Mo Farah will defend
his Chicago title in the United States,
writes Jason Henderson.
INEOS, the sponsors of Kipchoge’s
latest sub-two attempt, surprised
the athletics world last week by
announcing the attempt would
take place in the Austrian capital
despite London being widely billed
to host the event and also due to
the fact London Marathon Events is
supporting the project.
Back in 2012 Vienna briefly stole
the distance running headlines
around the world when Paula
Radcliffe was given a near-eight-
minute head start against Haile
Gebrselassie over the
half-marathon distance. The
battle of the sexes ‘chase race’
saw Gebrselassie beat an under
par Radcliffe, but a sub-two-hour
marathon by Kipchoge would lead
to far bigger headlines.
Bookmakers Betway were quick
off the marks to offer odds of 6/
that it will be done this October inVienna, although they also offer
the same price that no athlete
manages to do so before 2022.
Kipchoge famously ran 2:00:25 in
the Nike-backed Breaking2 attempt
in Monza in 2017. Back then he was
helped by a phalanx of pacemakers
who dropped in and out of the run,
plus the new Vaporfly shoes.So far INEOS has not revealed
what kind of ideas it will incorporate
into the Vienna event, although
weather is a concern because they
have given themselves the window
of October 12-20 for Kipchoge to
make the attempt.
Kipchoge’s marathon will be
held 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.
The area is known as the green
lung of Vienna, although if this
attempt fails then a future time trial
could take place in the oxygen-rich
shores of the Dead Sea.
As reported in AW last month,
the Israeli venue is where Yannis
Pitsiladis, the brains behind the
original ‘Sub2hrs Project’ in 2014,
would like to stage an attempt.Viennese whirl
for Kipchoge
Kenyan heads to Austrian capital for INEOS 1:59 Challenge
DIGEST THE LATEST FROM THE WORLD OF ATHLETICS
Vienna 2012: Haile Gebrselassie and Paula
Radcliffe took part in a ‘chase race’THOMAS LOVELOCK FOR LONDON MARATHON EVENTS