Thousands of people in Eldoret, a principla city in the Rift Valley region of Kenya, broke into celebrations to mark the historic moment after one of their own Eliud Kipchoge became the first person in the world to run a marathon in under two hours.
NAIROBI, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- Eldoret people in Kenya broke into celebrations to mark the historic moment after one of their own, the world's greatest marathoner Eliud Kipchoge broke the sub-two hour barrier in style on Saturday.
Eliud Kipchoge completed the INEOS challenge marathon in 1:59:40 on a specially prepared course in the Prater Park of the Austrian capital Vienna with 41 pacemakers taking turns to support him.
He made history as first human to attain such a feat.
Eldoret residents converge to watch the INEOS 1:59 Challenge.(Xinhua/Chris Mgidu)
Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta sent his "hearty congratulations", writing on Twitter: "You've done it, you've made history and made Kenya proud while at it. Your win today, will inspire tens of future generations to dream big and to aspire for greatness."
Kipchoge is arguably the greatest marathon runner of all-time, claiming victory in ten out of 11 marathons, racking up an unprecedented nine successive victories over the 42.195km distance.
Eldoret residents converge to watch the INEOS 1:59 Challenge.(Xinhua/Chris Mgidu)
With a stunning 2:01:39, he broke the world marathon record in Berlin last year by 78 seconds, which is the largest single improvement on the world record in more than 50 years.■
