Three of the world’s best distance runners will attempt to run a sub-2:00 marathon on Saturday. Here’s what you need to know about the Nike-sponsored event.
WHAT: Olympic marathon champ Eliud Kipchoge, two-time Boston winner Lelisa Desisa, and half marathon world record-holder Zersenay Tadese will try to break 2:00 in the marathon. The current world record is 2:02:57. Breaking 2:00 will require bettering that mark by 2.5%, a huge performance jump at the world-class level.
WHEN: Saturday, May 6, 5:45 a.m. Central European Summer Time. In the United States, the start time is 11:45 p.m. Eastern/8:45 p.m. Pacific on Friday.
WHERE: The Formula One race track in Monza, Italy. The runners will do roughly 17.5 laps of the 2.4-kilometer circuit.
WATCH: The attempt will be livestreamed at runnersworld.com/live, beginning 15 minutes before the race starts. Watch it here. The coverage will include commentary from marathon world record-holder Paula Radcliffe and veteran broadcaster Craig Masback, a former elite miler and former CEO of USA Track & Field who now works for Nike.
MORE INFO: Our sub-2 marathon page has everything you need to know about Saturday’s attempt and the 2:00 marathon in general. Some highlights:
- Q & A on the basics of going sub-2.
- Behind the scenes of Nike’s Breaking2 project.
- The new shoes the runners will wear.
- What happened at a test half marathon in March.
Scott is a veteran running, fitness, and health journalist who has held senior editorial positions at Runner’s World and Running Times. Much of his writing translates sport science research and elite best practices into practical guidance for everyday athletes. He is the author or coauthor of several running books, including Running Is My Therapy, Advanced Marathoning, and Meb for Mortals. Scott has also written about running for Slate, The Atlantic, the Washington Post, and other members of the sedentary media. His lifetime running odometer is past 110,000 miles, but he’s as much in love as ever.
