Eliud Kipchoge just broke the marathon’s two-hour barrier, and KU Leuven research helped him do it

Eliud Kipchoge (Flickr, M. Jelijs)
Eliud Kipchoge (Flickr, M. Jelijs)

Kipchoge broke the record thanks to a special arrangement of runners, among other things. Professor Bert Blocken (KU Leuven/TU Eindhoven) confirmed the superior performance of this formation with wind tunnel tests and computer simulations.

Kenyan athlete Eliud Kipchoge has become the first person to ever complete a marathon within two hours. Taking part in the INEOS 1:59 Challenge, the Olympic champion and world record holder for the marathon stopped the clock after 1 hour, 59 minutes, and 40 seconds. 

The record attempt was completed under optimised conditions. Part of this was a special arrangement of runners, who surrounded Kipchoge in order to lower the air resistance as much as possible. ...

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