• Kenyan runs unofficial time of 1hr 59min 40sec in Vienna • World record holder was assisted by 41 pacemakers and lasers
Eliud Kipchoge made history in Vienna by running the first-ever sub two-hour marathon in a time of 1hr 59min 40sec. Cheered on by thousands of fans, the Kenyan world record holder and Olympic champion completed four laps of a 9.4km circuit around the Prater, a park in the centre of the Austrian capital.
Kipchoge achieved the feat with a team of 41 in-and-out pacemakers, seven at a time, whose positions were guided by lasers projected on the road from a support car in front. These assisted conditions, and the fact the run was not part of an open event, mean his achievement will not count as an official world record.