Even in a highly controlled environment, the sub-two-hour marathon remains elusive — just barely.
Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya, 32, the reigning Olympic marathon champion, covered 26.2 miles in 2 hours 25 seconds early on Saturday in an extremely managed setting of pacing and drafting on a Formula One racecourse in Monza, Italy, outside Milan.
It was the fastest marathon ever run, more than two and a half minutes quicker than the official world record, 2:02:57, set by Dennis Kimetto of Kenya at the 2014 Berlin Marathon. But Kipchoge’s time will not be ratified for record purposes, mainly because of rules regarding pace-setting.