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http://sport360.com/article/health-and-fitness/205837/nike-introduces-breaking-2-a-quest-to-break-the-two-hour-marathon-barrier/

Nike launches bid to break two-hour marathon mark

Nike's new campaign is to help three athletes try to achieve the
impossible: a sub two-hour marathon.

by Sport360 staff
18th December 2016

article:18th December 2016



The latest campaign sees Nike support three athletes in their bid to
not only beat the current men’s world record time of 2:02:57, but
break the two-hour barrier too.


Nike is working with a diverse team of leaders across several fields
of science and sport with a holistic approach to athletes, product,
training, nutrition and environment.

THE MISSIOM

In 1954, Sir Roger Bannister ran the first four-minute mile. Bannister
didn’t just break a record; he redefined what athletes were capable of
and inspired confidence in others to do the same.

Attempting to break the sub two-hour marathon also challenges the
perception of what is possible in sport, resets the expectations of
product and enables Nike to gather incredible athlete insight.

These lessons can be applied across everything Nike does, including
products and services, to ultimately serve all runners. The only real
failure would be to not attempt such an audacious goal.

THE ATHLETES

Reaching a sub two-hour marathon requires shaving seven seconds off
each of the 26.2 miles of the marathon. Even for the world’s best
runners this is a massive leap.

Nike spent significant time identifying three elite athletes who are
perfectly equipped for (and bold enough to take on) the challenge.

Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya, Lelisa Desisa of Ethiopia and Zersenay Tadese
of Eritrea are all lined up to attempt the impossible and run a sub
two-hour marathon. These runners are not afraid of the unknown — they
attack it.

ELIUD KIPCHOGE

Eliud Kipchoge, 32 years old, was born November 5 in Kapsisiywa, Nandi
District and has won medals at both the Olympic and World level. Eliud
began running after high school following years of observing his coach
and mentor, Patrick Sang, who is still his coach to date.

In 2003, Eliud made his debut in distance running after setting a
world junior record in the 5000 meters at the IAAF World Cross Country
Championship. Later that year, Eliud became World Champion at the
World Championships in Athletics. In 2012, Eliud set a half-marathon
best with a time of 59:25.

Eliud won a bronze medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics in 5000 meters, a
silver medal in the 2008 Beijing Olympics in the 5000 meters and most
recently, a gold medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics in the men’s marathon.

He improved his personal best marathon time by 5 seconds after winning
the Berlin Marathon with a time of 2:04:00. In 2016, he improved upon
that time even further when he set a new course record in the London
Marathon achieving a winning time of 2:03:05.

ZERSENAY TADESE

Zersenay Tadese, 34 years old, was born February 8 in Adi Bana,
Eritrea. His bronze medal in the 10,000 meters at the 2004 Athens
Olympics made him the first ever Eritrea Olympic medalist. He was also
Eritrea’s first athlete to win a World Championship event when he took
the 20-kilometer title in the 2006 IAAF World Road Running
Championships.

Zersenay has four consecutive victories in the World Half Marathon
Championships from 2006-2009 and won the title again in 2012. He set a
world record in the 2010 Lisbon Half Marathon and has won gold, silver
and two bronze medals at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships.
Zersenay is a four-time Olympian competing at the 2004, 2008, 2012 and
2016 Olympic Games.

In 2009, Zersenay became the second man to win three World
Championship medals over three different surfaces in the same year.
Zersenay currently holds the men’s half marathon world record with a
time of 58:23. His brother, Kidane Tadese, is also a professional
distance runner.

LELISA DESISA

Lelisa Desisa, 26 years old, was born January 14 in Shewa, Ethiopia.
Early in his running career, Lelisa focused on road racing. He made
his breakthrough in 2010 after running sub-60 minutes placing third at
the Zayed International Half Marathon. He has won many high-profile
races such as Boilermaker 15K, Cherry Blossom 10-miler, Bolder Boulder
10K and Delhi Half Marathon.

Lelisa made his marathon debut by running 2:04:45 hours in the 2013
Dubai Marathon. Lelisa won the 2013 Boston Marathon and with the event
of the bombings, he gave his medal back to the city of Boston to honor
all the bombing victims. In 2015, he won the Boston Marathon again
with a time of 2:09:17, and took second in 2016.

THE TEAM

Nike is always looking for barriers to break and the idea of a sub
two-hour marathon has come up many times.  Fueled by a long-standing
passion for running, Nike began working on a footwear solution
specific to the marathon in 2013. This effort ultimately transitioned
a year later into a full-on commitment to breaking the two-hour
marathon, precipitating the formation of the Breaking2 team.

The Breaking 2 team includes world-class experts across biomechanics,
coaching, design, engineering, materials development, nutrition and
sports psychology and physiology. Alignment of the group’s diverse
knowledge bases aims to unpack performance at the molecular level. In
this, the team will obsess every detail of the Breaking2 attempt, from
weather conditions to jerseys, enabling Eliud, Lelisa and Zersenay to
maximize their potential.

THE INNOVATION

To run the perfect race, the athletes require the most innovative
product. This is a critical pillar of the Breaking2 attempt, and where
Nike is able to deliver unrivaled performance benefits. After years of
extensive research and development, Breaking2 will debut a system of
groundbreaking innovation that has the potential to elevate every
runner.

THE ATTEMPT

To go faster than ever, each second is optimized by careful
consideration of course and conditions. The date and location of the
sub two-hour race attempt will be revealed next year. Join us to
follow the progress of Breaking2 here.