'Come and support Eliud Kipchoge'
What you need to know:
- Kipchoge arrived in Vienna on Tuesday, having flown from his training camp in Kaptagat in Kenya and has been acclimatising to Vienna and training on the course for the first time.
- Patrick Sang, Eliud Kipchoge’s coach, flew in with Kipchoge from Kaptagat, Kenya. He added: “When we landed in Vienna, Eliud turned to me and said, “I am ready”. His preparation and training for the INEOS 1:59 Challenge in Kaptagat, Kenya over the coming months has gone very well and we are both extremely excited for this Challenge.
Finally, the decision has been made that Eliud Kipchoge’s historic attempt to make history and become the first person ever to run a marathon in under two hours will take place this Saturday in Vienna, Austria.
The INEOS 1:59 Challenge will be streamed live by YouTube on the INEOS 1:59 Challenge page.
Viewers will also have the option to watch the race coverage on a ground-breaking second screen option on www.ineos159challenge.com.” Fingers crossed, Kipchoge should beat the iconic barrier on Saturday and move the entire Kenya, and the world, into a frenzy.
All over the country, viewing parties have been put together with Bank of Africa and DStv partnering for a double header at the Toby’s Tavern in Eldoret (formerly Rosewood Hotel) at which athletes and fans will watch the INEOS 1:59 Challenge on Saturday, before following the Chicago Marathon the following day with lots of food and entertainment.
Here’s there statement from the organisers released Wednesday night: “The final unanswered question, the start time for the INEOS 1:59 Challenge, will be decided the afternoon before on Friday October 11 (tomorrow) by the INEOS 1:59 Performance and Meteorology teams. The start window on Saturday, October 12 is currently scheduled for 5am-9am CEST (6am-10am Kenyan time).
Robby Ketchell, who is leading the weather analysis for the INEOS 1:59 Challenge Performance Team, said: “We have looked at the weather patterns for Vienna coming through and the current conditions are looking to be optimal for temperature, humidity, wind and precipitation for this Saturday morning. We are currently looking at less than two metres per second wind speed on the start location on the bridge and a temperature of between 5-9 degrees Celsius from 5am-8am on Saturday.
COME AND SUPPORT
After 8am the temperature is looking like it will rise slightly, and humidity will drop slightly. For the Challenge we need a 24-hour window of no rain to keep all the surfaces dry and that is currently looking to be the case for Saturday too.
“Weather analysis, as one part of the Challenge we cannot control, has been the subject of much hard work from the team over the past few months and with the best knowledge we have right now Saturday 12th October is looking to be the best conditions we could have hoped for.”
Now that the date is set the three-day countdown starts, and Kipchoge will switch his nutrition and begin carb-loading.
Kipchoge arrived in Vienna on Tuesday, having flown from his training camp in Kaptagat in Kenya and has been acclimatising to Vienna and training on the course for the first time.
Patrick Sang, Eliud Kipchoge’s coach, flew in with Kipchoge from Kaptagat, Kenya. He added: “When we landed in Vienna, Eliud turned to me and said, “I am ready”. His preparation and training for the INEOS 1:59 Challenge in Kaptagat, Kenya over the coming months has gone very well and we are both extremely excited for this Challenge.
“One element that is very important for Eliud is the crowd. So please, come and support Eliud on October 12 and cheer him on to help him make history”.
