All language subtitles for Kipchoge.The.Last.Milestone.2021.WEBRip.x264

And
Bannister has done it.

Now, he's out on his feet. His
coach and team manager tell him

he's achieved his ambition, a mile
in three minutes 59.4 seconds.

Jimmy Hines
is going to win the race!

Jim Hines is the winner! Lennox
Miller, second, Charlie Greene, third.

Jim Hines is the
world's fastest human.

He breaks the world
record by an astonishing margin,

one minute and 17 seconds.

And history has been made in
Berlin in astonishing style.

You are go
for landing. Over.

Roger. Understand.
Go for landing. 3,000 feet.

Altitude, 1600. 1400
feet, still looking very good.

We're go.

We're go.

Contact light.

OK, engine stop.

We copy you down, Eagle.

It's
one small step for man,

one giant leap for mankind.

Welcome to a foggy
morning here in Vienna, Austria,

where one man will attempt to
go where no man has been before.

Pushing his body and
mind to the limit

with the aid of scientific research
and meticulous preparation,

Kenya's Eliud Kipchoge will hope to
run 26.2 miles in under two hours

and, in doing so, beat one of the
great sporting barriers of our time.

Kipchoge! Kipchoge!
Kipchoge! Kipchoge!

Hicham El
Guerrouj coming home,

Eliud Kipchoge, Kenenisa Bekele.

Kipchoge in the red. Can
he get to the finals? Yes!

Kipchoge edging out
Hicham El Guerrouj!

Eighteen
years of age. Eliud Kipchoge.

You know, you hear about child
prodigies that can play the piano.

How can you do this at 18, when you
should be a senior in high school?

You know, science has
it that the first man to run 42K

below two hours,

will do it in about 2075.

That is 50 years from now.
He wants to do it now.

His mind is...
It's something you can't describe.

Berlin, 2015,

he is running at kilometer-five
and the insoles are flapping out.

And you're saying... this
guy will drop from this

because it will cause blisters.

But he went on, and actually
set his personal best.

So you look at him and you
say, "OK, this is magical."

Because you were seeing
somebody here with a mind that,

if he puts it on something,
nothing will distract him from it.

He will go for it.

Kipchoge
puts his foot down.

The London Marathon
belongs to Eliud Kipchoge.

Eliud Kipchoge.

Eliud Kipchoge, arguably
the greatest ever.

This will be the first
sub 2:02 clocking,

and by a monstrous margin, he is
going to break the world record.

Particularly in marathon running, he
is the greatest ever, by a long way.

The quickest. A man
who knows how to win.

Sang is second.
One, two, three for Kenya.

I was a fortunate guy

to have had help from so many people
throughout my childhood years.

All the way to being a runner.

So, when I came back, one of
the things that I wanted to do

was to give back
to the community.

So I was actively involved in helping
young athletes in this country.

Somehow Eliud knew that
I was in this position,

and he came to me like
any other youngster

asking for a training plan.

I would give him a training
plan for two weeks,

and he would come,
religiously, every two weeks,

to ask for more.

But at one point he told me,

"I've made the regional
team to go to the Nationals.

I want to be guided."

He also told me that he took up
running because he used to see me run

at the high school, and said
why don't I try, like this guy?

And that's why he was
coming to me for advice.

So that was the beginning.

He breaks
the world record

by an astonishing margin.

One minute and 17 seconds. Patrick
Sang, his coach, his companion

for run after run, race
after race, year after year.

It's just pure trust.

He never asks what are we going to
do next week, next month, tomorrow.

And I think, without trust, you
cannot go far in this business.

All of us in life, we go
through different phases.

And any situation
gives you lessons.

And it depends on how you
interact with that background.

Some will take it positively,
and use it positively.

You know, there have
been so many theories

why we have this
rich pool of talent.

I believe strongly in
the theory of Darwin,

the survival of the fittest.

Most of our athletes come
from humble backgrounds.

You have to fight,
you have to be strong.

And I think in Kenya,

the strictures that were laid
down by the colonial government

to compete for the Empire
in the Empire Games

meant a tradition was formed
under that unfriendly regime.

And I think over time
they were perfected.

Keino
making this crowd roar.

- He is now 15 yards clear.

When you pass a place, you
leave some dust in your wake.

And some dust can throw
in something glittering.

I think that would be
something that glitters

out of the unfriendly dust that
we experienced as a country.

The people here in Kenya,
masses of the Africans here in Kenya,

are probably roughly at
about the same stage.

Great Britain was 500 years ago.

We do not think that the normal
forms of democracy are suitable.

Simpson in second
place. O'Brien is third.

Wilkinson is fourth, and surely
no one will catch the African.

People heard
through the radio

that there was this great
guy who could run so fast,

and his name was Kip Keino.

And
Keino is going faster,

and Simpson is
going harder, too.

He was a household name.

There were songs sung about him.

When we were kids, we used
to say, "Run like Kip Keino!"

You get one person from
an area running very well,

then he becomes a mentor to many
others. There is an example to follow.

But then, there is dominance
on the Kalenjin group,

particularly where long-distance
running is concerned.

Every single time Eliud laces his
shoes and takes the guys out for a run,

he doesn't have to say anything.

If you're in that camp, all you
have to do is see in his eyes.

You know, his dedication

and his will to just keep
pushing every single time.

For you to succeed in
the majority of these things,

you have got to get a team
that believes in your dream.

You are the vision carrier.

But the cast that supports
you have also to believe

and commit to the dream.

Eliud is super
consistent in whatever he does.

It's all about discipline.

It's a storm of conditions that come
together to make this man who he is.

He's got an
incredible physiology.

He's got incredible
efficiency as an athlete.

And he's got an absolutely incredible
mind. I mean, an incredible mind.

He is the perfect shape.

He has almost perfect posture.

He puts his feet down...
and it's a dream.

He almost floats.

Athletics is an individual
sport and Eliud is able

to make an individual
sport a kind of team sport

with the way he
does things in camp.

He feels it's a way of inspiring people.
That is something which I see in Eliud

that you don't see in
almost any other athlete.

Running is
a taxing exercise.

It takes a lot of
energy from the system.

The set-up we have in Kaptagat

is an ideal environment
where somebody

can have around them the right
people to give them moral support.

Eliud has really helped
young people, and some of us

because what you see from
him makes you believe

that if this person can do
this, also I can do that.

He is a mentor to so
many young athletes.

Squat! Get into the
squatting position.

Open. Close.

Two. Close.

Three. Close. Four. Close.

People look up to him

because he's not trying
to be something else.

He's completely sincere.

The camp is a
really special place.

The athletes organize
everything in camp themselves.

It is very austere.

But I think you then get connected
with what really matters.

You can get with very little.
All the other things are fluff.

There are so many things
that I've learned from him.

One of them is
really... be humble.

No matter what success you achieve
in your life, always be humble.

In his case, humility is
something that's absolutely core.

He doesn't even think about it.

It's a natural thing that
emanates out from him, really.

It's central to the
way that he operates.

This is the best
training area for running.

Elite athletes.

For that person who is
aspiring to be the best.

We believe in our
fitness, we believe in the team

that we have selected
to help Eliud.

We believe in the coaching
that's been provided for us.

So we have a strong team.

We do half squat.

At the end of the
day, all you can do is just

train, eat, rest, and repeat.

High-altitude training
does them a lot of good.

You develop a higher
red blood cell count

that transports the oxygen.

So when you go and run now at sea
level, you find you have an advantage

because you're able to
carry the oxygen through

much easier than
the other person.

An elite athlete will be used to
having to capture the oxygen very well.

Their genomes are crafted
by the evolutionary process

to produce the proteins necessary
to capture the oxygen easily,

because the oxygen is thin.

But it can't be just that.

The elite performers in Kenya are
also inheriting the right epigenome.

That is, the ability to
maintain those controls

over, not only your muscles,
but also the rest of the body.

How we behave, the
lifestyle, the training,

the ways in which the body
tells the genome what to do.

I've been fascinated
throughout my career

by why certain ethnic groups
have excelled in sport.

If you asked me in 2000, I
would have said it's genetic.

But 20 years later,
it's very clear to me,

and it's actually
well accepted now,

that what we're observing is a
socio-economic cultural phenomenon.

The very best, or the very,
very unique individuals,

where genetics
plays a massive role

but genes alone will
not produce success.

You need that right environment.

You close your eyes
and you think about Kenya.

You think about athletes,

and you think about
extraordinary performances.

And there is an ambition, an
aspiration, amongst young Kenyan kids

to want to be great runners.

When we came out of
colonial administration,

we became independent.

And our first experience as a
country in international competitions

was so positive because we
won medals from the word go.

And that, in itself, set a tradition
that every young athlete coming up

has a bar that is already
set. And that bar is that

if you come with anything less
than a gold, you are not good.

The Kenyans train
to be the best.

And that's, like, a mindset
that is very strong for them.

Amongst all the
Kalenjin group that are running,

there are those that can have
a very low pain threshold.

That problem that would actually
make another athlete drop,

Eliud would finish with it.

His body is exceptional,

because he is able to block

that disruption, that irritation
that the pain is causing,

and put it at the back of his
mind until the race is over.

Actually, his
biggest asset, his mind,

carries him through those
very trying moments.

He is very
strong mentally.

He has really developed a
way of overcoming the pain.

He always smiles, he
always concentrates,

he always keeps focus
on what he does.

And I've tried and
it really works.

You smile a bit, and you forget
about the pain and just keep moving.

When you're exercising,

and you're competing
at a very high level,

you are doing much
more than just running.

You are also putting yourself into a
state of mind in which you can do it.

It's a meditative state.

You have to align
the mind and the whole body,

so that when you tell it to
move, it moves as you direct.

If you have a disconnect
between those two things,

that's when you start
losing the momentum,

and it becomes a nightmare
for you to sustain.

We are here at
the Autodromo Nazionale Monza

to see if we can really
break this barrier.

This is something that has been
in the making for two years.

Breaking the two
hours is incredible pressure.

He experienced that for
the first time in Monza.

That kind of pressure which is
different than going for Olympics

or for London Marathon
or anything else.

And I think in Monza, he
was learning to handle it.

It was really hard for
him to convince himself

that he was going to
run under two hours.

It took him six, seven
months to prepare physically,

but mainly, mentally, to be
ready on the starting line

that he had really internalized
that he was going to achieve it.

At that time he came from
a personal best of 2:03:05.

So he had to prepare his mind

to go three minutes faster than
he had ever had done in his life.

Believe me,
that's not just a first place,

that is a moment of
marathon history.

At Monza, it was very
clear it was a very big step.

I remember going to
the racecourse at Monza

and thinking to myself,
"Three minutes. That's a lot!"

Thirty seconds.

Nine, eight, seven, six...

He was courageous.

He said, "I'm going
to give 100 percent."

And he did.

The three most
important points from Monza were

that we didn't get enough
carbohydrates inside Eliud.

The drinks didn't
work as we wanted.

The weather was not ideal. The
rain. And it was very humid.

And the other thing for
Eliud was always the crowd.

There was nobody there.

But that's also part
of sports, you know?

If we can predict
everything, why are we here?

You know, this is life.

He almost succeeded, but
he missed by 25 seconds.

It was a
learning curve for me.

He showed me a different
character of himself.

That the mind that we thought
was, "He has a strong mind,"

was stronger than we thought.

The most successful people are
the ones that are not afraid of fear.

They try, and if they
fail, they come back again.

That belief that he
has that no human is limited...

It means, once you train your mind
on something, you will achieve it.

The difference between
the good and the great

is that your head may be telling
you you possibly can't do it,

but there is
something else there

that overrules all
those cautious thoughts.

And you think, "Fuck it, I
can. And I'm gonna go for it."

We're in a
different era right now

where people believe these guys
like Eliud are actually making sure

that the generation
that will follow

are going to think, "We are
going to be running 2:00

on an open marathon, or that is
not going to be good enough."

Haile Gebrselassie
writes yet another chapter

in the most astonishing
distance-running career in history.

In 2008, Haile Gebrselassie ran
for the first time under 2:04 in Berlin.

Then more and more people are asking,
"Two hours, when will it happen?"

If you look at the curve
of the marathon records,

it would take
another 30, 40 years.

To do the impossible...
and I almost still believe

that breaking a two-hour marathon
is impossible, because I run!

And the idea of running every
kilometer at two minutes 50

is impossible in my view.

That requires this combination of
an athlete that is truly superhuman,

but also incredibly
meticulous organization

to get him to the point where
he could break two hours.

It was that feeling of, "Holy
shit, this is the real deal."

We've got this responsibility
to this athlete

who's only going to
get this one chance.

When you're going into
something at the highest level,

you're really under a
huge amount of pressure,

you have to have
done the preparation.

You have to know in your mind that
you've done all you possibly can.

In the first instance, you
pull together a little team of people,

your safe team, as it were...
So, obviously, we got Tim in.

Tim's background was in rowing,

swimming, and he is now the
most decorated coach in cycling.

What he does have is a knowledge
of performance physiology

and an ability to apply
that to a range of sports.

One A and one B.

I met Valentijn,

who is a performance manager and
looks after Eliud and his team,

and we hit it off straight away.

One of the greatest challenges in the
first instance, was to find the course.

On that side we
had Hugh Brasher,

who many will know is the
director of London Marathon.

So you had Valentijn, Hugh and myself
as a sort of senior management team.

And then there were
other people in our team.

Fran Millar, obviously who
works very closely with me.

Peter Vint who was in charge of all
the cars and the lasers and the timing.

Spencer had got all the pacers

and Robby Ketchell who'd
worked on the Nike project.

I mean, a brilliant guy. A scientist,
meteorologist, aerodynamicist.

I mean, phenomenally bright guy.

And that's one of the challenges

when you take experts from different
fields and different sports

and you try and pull them together,
you've got to have the chemistry.

We're going to have to move fast,
we're going to have to have open minds,

and communicate really, really
frequently and move at pace.

Timothy and Emanuel, you
just... you start also behind.

Because we are all
on the starting line.

- We will not start in this formation.
- Oh, yes.

We are starting on the
line and then, boom, go...

Normally, we race to
win. We win medals, we win races.

We go to the Olympics, or the Tour de
France, we win stuff in competitions.

This event is different. This is
about breaking a human barrier.

So we had to really think about
this in a slightly different way

and make sure the philosophy
of the whole attempt was based

- on a performance.
- First mentality.

What's going to get us to that record?
What's going to help the performance?

And if we have to work harder,
invest more, find a different way,

find a different solution for all
the other aspects of the event

that will fit around it,
then that's what we'd do.

He had run a fantastic time
in the London Marathon,

and we thought, actually,
if he ran no worse,

the same physical performance
that he did in London,

then could we look for
the marginal gains?

The optimizers,
as we'd call them.

So, make sure the surface of
the road is absolutely perfect.

Perfect weather conditions.

We wanted the corners to be
more than 32 meters' radius.

What's the thermoregulation?
What's the fueling strategy?

What's the pacing
strategy? The aerodynamics?

All of those elements were
critical in essentially

what, for me, would
be marginal gains.

We improve shoes, we
improve drinks, all these things.

But that's natural.

In ten years, we will be again finding
out more things, and different things.

It's just a point in history
where we are at at the moment

and we are speeding up
a little bit of history.

I always wanted
it to be somewhere iconic

because it's such
a special event.

I didn't really want to be in an
airfield in Norfolk, you know?

Or somewhere in northern Germany
because those were a couple of ideas.

You get a flat course
and it's very manageable

because there's no people
around, there's no traffic.

You have to deal with all that.

If you're going to do this, it should
really be in an iconic location.

This course is actually
something really special.

When we came and saw it for the
first time, all of us looked at it

and said immediately, "I
think we found our place."

You come here and even before you think
about all of the physics around it,

and the environment that
you are trying to run in,

you get a feeling of, "This
is somewhere I can run fast."

It was June 13.

Thirteen minutes past eight,
I've got the call. It's Vienna.

It starts me crying a little
bit, just for a moment.

To have Eliud here, and
all those pacemakers?

It was the best that ever
could happen for Vienna.

So on this circuit, we have
a 4.3 kilometer section here

that we are walking on
almost perfectly flat.

It only has an elevation
change of about 2.4 meters

from one end to the other.

He's going to do 4.4 laps on it,

so that means that he is going
to do this about 8.5 times.

And there are roundabouts that are
located conveniently on either side.

Just having that circuit there
was enough for us to decide

that this is an
optimal location.

When you approach anything
like this, a big undertaking,

it's like being in a field where
there's mist and you can't see anything.

You don't know where the fence
is or where the edges are.

But you know there's a gate somewhere.
You know you can get out of the field.

But until the fog lifts, you're not
going to be able to find the gate.

And it felt like that at the
beginning of the project.

And as the fog lifted,

it was literally like all of the
elements started to fall into place.

An order fell across
the whole project.

People really seemed
to buy this concept

of, "We're doing something
that no one has ever done."

Like, that's special.
That's unique.

There was a genuine
magic to it, you know?

He is Zen-like in
his approach and his preparation.

And watching him at
close quarters develop

from the end of the finishing
line in the London Marathon,

in those few months coming up,

coming up to the level
of when he was ready

to execute that performance,
was something else.

How he approached
that was very special.

Not only did he believe in
himself, he had a brilliant way

of making everybody around
him believe in him, too.

The impact that has on everybody
else around him in a project...

Not only the other support
runners and the pacemakers,

but all of the staff, the
coaching staff, the experts,

everybody who was
working night and day

to try and bring all this
project together, that's special.

OK, good
luck, Gabs. Here we go.

Cameras, keep
offering what you can. Thank you.

Seven... six... five

three... two

one.

Well, the waiting
is over. The moment has arrived.

We are just moments
away. And there he is.

You know, thousands, if
not millions, of people

will be going out for
a Saturday run today.

Well, this could be the most famous
Saturday run the world has ever seen.

And it's all about this man,
Eliud Kipchoge from Kenya.

The sub two.
- Hour marathon is considered

the Everest of distance running.

Something that people, for a long
time, thought was nearly impossible,

we wouldn't see
in our lifetimes.

And in the last few years,
it's suddenly hoved into view.

And we might see it
today. It's very exciting.

We've
already got crowds

who are all expectant of history
being made today in Vienna.

He's done everything
there is to do in this sport.

This is the last barrier.
The two-hour marathon.

This would be his legacy.

Every I has
been dotted, every t crossed.

Is he going to do it?

The weather, the fact that it's
foggy, a bit foggier than expected,

throws another little doubt,
maybe, into the minds.

This is not a
foregone conclusion.

So we are into the
final few minutes before countdown.

Fifteen seconds.
Stand by, everyone.

Stand by three, stand by five.

Here we go.
Stand by ten.

From the president to
the simple Kenyan in a village,

we want to witness
history being made.

And we are confident
that today, God willing,

we will have a celebration

and 1:59 is going to be a
reality. Thank you very much.

We have lift-off.
Apollo Kipchoge is up and away.

The race, when it
started, it was beautiful.

As a coach, you know, you
look at the body language.

I saw the eyes of Eliud in the camera
and he was very focused and relaxed.

Everybody was psyched up. The
pacers were in high spirits

and I said, "It's going
to be a good day."

When he started
the race, I was nervous.

But when I saw how
he was running,

he was really in good shape,
and the pacers were also.

I was
nervous... exciting...

And...

I had faith that he could do it.

We had a starting-race
plan. If everything went perfectly,

the plan was to go at the
first kilometer at 2:48:0.

And every other kilometer
after that 2:50:45

which would give a
finish time of 1:59:50.

The speed
at which they are traveling

is quite extraordinary.

It's worth trying to put it into
some sort of layman's terms.

He is going to be running, or
trying to run, consistently

at 13 miles an hour.

Twenty-one kilometers an hour.

It's mind blowing.

I challenge people to
go to their local track

and just run one lap, 400 meters
of the track, in 68 seconds.

I bet you not many
people can do that!

This is crazy!

We can break
this down in so many ways.

One lap of the track, at
your local track, 68 seconds.

And he has to do that 105 times.
Each hundred meters in 17 seconds.

And he will be doing
that 422 times.

We are very familiar in
cycling with the concept of aerodynamics

and riding behind another one. A
teammate taking the brunt of the wind

and having to really
tire themselves out

so the person behind can be fresher
and then try and go for the win.

So Robby and the
aerodynamics team

set about looking at the formations
that were traditional in running.

And, also, throwing out
some creative ideas.

They ran their CFD models,
and their computer models,

and we made models, and the miniature
models went in the wind tunnel.

Positioned them all, et cetera.

Lo and behold, they
came back and they said,

"Actually, we found something
pretty interesting."

In a typical marathon,
if he was to run by himself,

he would have about
six Newtons of drag.

We've come up with a formation that
has reduced that to about one Newton.

It's a huge improvement in the drag
that he'll have when he's running.

So the pacers have a huge impact

on being able to help
Eliud break two hours.

Come on, guys!

I was there when he
did the test in the winter,

and it was fascinating to know.

We always thought pacemaking would
be like the birds flying in the sky

in the open-V formation.

But it turned out not to be a V.

It turned out to be a Y.

There are five runners in
front of Eliud and two behind him.

The front-runners will be
positioned over here on the sides

and there will be two of them.

But there will be a gap in
between them which is not natural.

That's part of the reason that training
them how to run like this was difficult.

Behind those two runners
will be two more runners

that are positioned further in,
so we're starting to create a V.

Then, behind them will be the
captain who runs in front of Eliud.

At some point, Fosbury
did his flop for the first time.

And people went, "What?
What's he doing?"

And yet it worked.

So we said, "Why isn't this
the Fosbury flop of running?"

We were maximizing what we call
the outwash around each runner.

So the outwash means that when
wind hits a runner on the torso,

it changes the direction of the wind,
and it's going to go out to the sides.

So, in effect,
what was happening,

the air was hitting the guy
that was on the outside.

Some of the air was coming
outside, some was going inside.

A guy on the inside of
him, on his shoulder,

was then getting the air
coming from guy number one,

plus the air hitting him. So
quite a lot more air, in fact.

And, of course, this is happening on
two sides of the funnel, as it were.

So the air, eventually, was
funneled right into the middle,

and the guy who was in the center
in the middle, took a lot of air.

He was getting
quite a buffeting!

And what happened was,
it created a big wake.

It actually created a nice little hole
where there was pretty much still air.

In that wake is
where Eliud needs to try to run

as close to the captain
in front of him.

Typically, you wouldn't run there.
Your visibility isn't the best.

You also don't want to trip.

So you don't want to step on
the runner in front of you.

They'll kick back and
vary a little bit.

The absolute trust

between all eight people at any
one time cannot be overstated.

Bernard Lagat there, right at the
heart of it, the initial captain.

And he will be handing over
shortly to the second team

and Eric Kiptanui will
be the second captain.

This event was always
going to have a bit of ballet about it.

You needed everyone to know what they
were doing, what their steps were.

We said, "OK, it's a big risk,
we haven't got much time.

We'll have to practice this
thing. If we go with this,

then we want to make sure, as
much as we can, that it's right."

It is kind of tricky,

but then, as a captain, I
need to keep my guys calm.

I want to make sure that they understand
the formation, to stay in their lanes.

At the same time, note that they are the
ones controlling the pace in the front.

The captain was the leader.
He was in charge of all the pacers

to make sure they executed exactly
what they were supposed to execute.

This is like the queen bee, protected
by the drones and the others

and it's that beautiful thing,
the exchange of the pacemakers!

And we're
keeping an eye out here

for the first change-over.

As I think Shalane was
likening... Here we go!

Shalane, talk us through this.

Yeah, I was likening it
to, in the US, a NASCAR pit stop,

where we change our tires,
fine tune the machine...

Same thing goes here for Eliud.

He's switching out and
getting fresh runners

that are hopefully smoothly
transitioning into formation

so that Eliud can just draft, and
conserve as much energy as possible.

Those
changes were not easy.

One slip, one wrong turn with a
trip-up, and it could all be over.

We wanted to maintain the pace

as well as the team exiting
and the team coming in.

So we want the team
that is going out

to really move out smoothly
and maintain the pace.

Then we also want the team
going in to come in smoothly,

not distracting Eliud.

We probably have 40
of the top athletes on the planet

and they're all working
for a common cause

and one man, which is Eliud.

The man
at the heart of it,

he's already the
world record-holder,

and he is surrounded by
his band of brothers.

We've got 15 Kenyans, seven
Americans, six Ugandans.

We've got Australians, Norwegians,
Ethiopians and one Japanese pacemaker.

It really is a truly
international field.

They all idolize
and look up to Eliud.

I think they look at this as a
chance to be a part of history today.

It's a beautiful
opportunity to help someone

that we know can
transcend our sport.

You know, running is the
most natural sport in the world.

You grow up, you walk, you run.

I think that's why this
sport is so beautiful.

You can run without shoes. You
don't need anything to run.

From an
African perspective,

right now, there are
young Africans watching,

and just looking to see what
human potential looks like,

waiting to be the next Kipchoge.

This is so inspiring, not only
to runners all over the world,

but to everybody, that
no human is limited.

You can go for your goals

if you have that energy
and that strong mind

that you do whatever
you want to do.

So it's not about running.

It is about inspiring the world

everybody else in the world
that everything is possible.

And nothing is limited for you.

We are approaching
the first of the roundabouts here.

This is the Lusthaus. This is the
smaller of the two roundabouts.

In the middle of that is
a former hunting lodge.

The turn radius
around the Lusthaus on average

is about 27.4 meters.

Originally, when we came here,
the surface was pretty old.

We knew that we were
going to resurface.

When you're running at
5.861 meters per second

at a 27.4-meter radius

you would, optimally, be looking
for about a ten-degree banking.

In a real-world condition, we
can't create a ten-degree banking,

but we can do something to
improve the current situation

of there being a negative two percent
of a camber going away from Eliud.

If you think of a
track athlete who runs indoors

you run on a 200
meter banked track.

Now, if you're going fast,
if it was flat at 200 meters,

you're going to drift
towards the outside.

You're allowed to
step off the lines,

but you'd want a little
bit of a cushion.

- Yeah, I'm sure you saw me going...
- Yeah, yeah, I was, like...

It's a bit dangerous
when you arrive at such a turn,

when you run at a fast pace.

You might slip a little bit
outside or even twist your ankle.

They have actually raised it,

so that as you're running there,

you feel like you're
running an indoor track.

You're supported and
you're staying balanced.

It changes it from negative
two percent to a positive one percent

- so we get a three.
- Percent difference.

We estimate that it can save
him up to three seconds per lap.

So that's 12 seconds
over the entire distance.

He won't save that time,

because he actually won't
run quicker because of that

but he will conserve
more energy.

That's going to allow him to run at
the sub two-hour pace for longer.

OK, you can
see the recent splits there.

The 2:50 mark in green

means that he is on schedule for
a sub two-hour marathon pace.

2:52 and 2:51 in the red,
means he's just outside.

He's been twice on target,
and twice just outside.

It just shows us, Ed, even
in these early stages,

just how challenging it is.

So, in what we call
the POC, on the day of the race,

the Performance
Operations Center,

we had representatives from the
aerodynamics team, the pacemakers team,

the car and the laser, the timing
system, the meteorology team,

and myself in communication
with Valentijn on the road.

Any information that needed to come
from any of those specialist teams

to Valentijn was
done through me.

Communication taking place

with Valentijn on the bicycle.
He's giving instructions out.

I mean, it looks like
one smooth event, doesn't it?

But it's a million
miles from that, you know.

We had some interesting
situations in the race

where even the second
kilometer, we thought was out.

There were some kilometers that
were 2:48 and some that were 2:52.

2:48! That's like...
They've gone out too fast.

That's the
correction from the 2km board. Over.

This is a major issue.

In our little
Mission Control pod,

it might have been looking like a
start to an event to everyone else.

"Oh, they're getting
going, getting warmed up."

We were, like, "Whoa,
OK, there's something...

What's going on?"

Tim Kerrison is sitting
there with his headphones on.

And he kind of
nonchalantly took one off

and put it on the side and said,

"All this timing you're seeing on
the telly, and that everyone can see,

it's wrong."

I was like, "What?"
He said, "Yeah, it's wrong.

They're on pace." I
said, "Are you sure?"

He said, "Absolutely. I'm right.

We're going to switch to our
back-up time and do it ourselves."

I was, like...

- "OK, everybody. Forget the timing. We're switching to back.
- Up timing."

Two-51.

The target
time holding up pretty well.

We've been hovering between
eight and ten seconds

inside sub two-hour pace.

So, so far so good.

And, Ed, the next real milestone
will be the ten-kilometer mark.

And sub two-hour pace would
put him at, what, 28:26.

Yeah, which is
a pretty tidy 10K!

Just out of picture is
Valentijn Trouw the athletes' manager

handing now more drinks and more
gels to Eliud if he wants them.

He does take something
on board there.

How much he consumes
is actually closely monitored

by his nutritionist
who will be measuring

every time that he takes something
from his water bottle and tosses it.

They will pick it up
and hand it off to him

so he can weigh it and
know how much he consumed.

We had people
just there to grab that bottle

before it got in the crowd.

Get the bottle, get the
bottle! Right, get it in.

What's the measurement?
How much did he drink?

You feed it back in. He took
X amount of mls on that one.

OK, we need to
change the next one.

So they were modifying the
fueling strategy in-race, live.

To keep that same
rhythm for two hours...

That's a lot of things happening
in your body, your muscles.

Some muscles, especially the
hamstrings, will get very tight.

Because you're running
in the same rhythm.

Lactic acid is building
up in the muscles.

After one hour and a half, it
will be very difficult for him.

Everyone was stressed not to do
a mistake, not to make him fall.

That was the worst
that could happen.

And when it was my turn,
of course, I was stressed,

but I was so happy to
be here to help Eliud.

I think I am getting the
mindset of the Kenyans.

Believing that everything is
possible by just training every day

for months and months,
years and years.

When you go to race, you have
this self-belief that you can win.

I was more keen on
the body language

as the race progressed
because they never fell back.

But, as far as making the
right times were concerned,

they were being
guided by the laser.

Some people have
criticized, or maybe had a view about,

the role of the lead car, there.

We can see perhaps that that's
adding extra protection,

but, essentially, as far as the
experts have explained to us,

the only reason that car is there
is to project the laser pacer.

If you talked to Robby
Ketchell who designed the aerodynamics

he said, "If it were up to
me, I wouldn't have a car."

It doesn't seem like
that would be right

but all the computational flow
dynamics that they have been doing

have told them that the best
results would be without a car.

The car, obviously, had the
laser which set the pace-line

so they knew exactly
at what pace to run.

And it also had the lines to help them
stay in the corridor, if you like.

The reason that it's
15 meters in front of Eliud

is in order to throw the laser
at a significant distance.

Plus, in order to maintain
the pace precisely.

It doesn't help the
runners behind Eliud

and it doesn't help
Eliud's position,

but it helps those five guys
directly in front of him.

Let's just home
in here on Eliud Kipchoge.

This is a great shot for
us to see the cadence,

and the way the rhythm,
the natural rhythm...

From memory, correct me,
both of you, if I'm wrong,

but I don't think we've had
a kilometer outside 2:52.

- I think that's the slowest we've had.
Correct.

That's incredible.

If you really think about it,
that is incredible pacing!

Eliud has trained
himself incredibly well

to keep the same
rhythm for two hours.

And the rhythm of all those
different athletes is like a drum

hammering on the streets.

It reminds me of
that same feeling

of them running in the
long runs in Kenya.

A kind of silence where you
only hear the steps going on.

For me, ja, it sounds
to me like music.

There are people who are
a little bit cynical about this

and saying "Well, it's not
an official world record,

and there's so much technology, so
much science, why should we care?"

There is
something artificial about this

but that's because they want to see one
guy do what no one else has done before.

It would be incredibly hard to
achieve this in an open race.

And so, I think there
is room in the sport

for both events like this,
and also, like, open races.

London Marathon is fantastic,
and this is fantastic.

Obviously, we know
technology goes into sportswear

and has done for
a very long time,

but we shouldn't underestimate
what's going on on his feet,

and how important they
are, those trainers.

I don't think
we should kid ourselves.

I don't think it would've been
possible to try to go under two hours

five or ten years ago.

The technology has developed so fast
and he's in the latest innovation.

He's in shoes that no one
else has ever run before.

It's a step change from where
we were even two years ago.

So, we're talking about,
maybe, a few seconds

which in this context is
an enormous amount of help.

It could be vital.

World athletics are
reportedly getting ready to ban.

Nike's Vaporfly shoes for giving
runners an unfair advantage.

The introduction of the
Vaporfly to the running community

really has changed what
we think of as possible.

In very simplistic terms, it's
almost like a mini pogo stick.

You put the shoe on and you're
immediately aware that it's different.

Nike Sports research labs
are working with Kipchoge

on enhancing his shoes to
break that two-hour mark.

But I guess the
big question comes down to,

if you're not wearing the Nike
Vaporfly, can you compete?

These shoes certainly
are game-changing and transformative.

The athletes typically are
sponsored, always sponsored,

by only the shoe industry.

So that industry
controls the sport.

Some of the biggest sponsors
of our sport are the shoe companies.

We don't really want to be telling
them what they can and can't do.

But there are obviously things
that we would be concerned about

if that technology started to
become the predominant story.

I think the research
right now shows actual innovation

that blurs the line
of enhancement.

It
enhances performance

because it's such a
technological sneaker.

The properties of
the carbon fiber plate and...

No society, no market
economy, has ever prospered

by trying to stifle innovation.

I think, whether
we like it or not,

technology comes into a
lot of sports these days.

I mean, look at cycling. The
advances we've made in the bicycle.

Does that take anything
away from Egan Bernal

or Geraint Thomas when they
win the Tour de France?

They still need to ride it.

The world of
sport needs to consider

that the effects of
technological doping

are vastly superior
than traditional doping.

So, therefore, you
and I, the public,

can no longer gauge
what you're watching.

Can no longer gauge
what you're watching.

For anybody who says this isn't
right, put the shoes on yourself.

Wear the same kit, get
yourself down to Vienna,

get a couple of people to run in
front of you, and see how fast you go.

Well, this is
the sixth of nine teams.

There are nine
rotations, if you like.

And, there we are, Eric Kiptanui,
who is having a busy old morning.

He's back on as
the team captain.

I tell
you, that guy is in shape!

Technology has
a place, and it helps.

But, at the end, it
is the human being.

And I think that's what I find
really amazing with Eliud.

At the end of the day, it is him.
And he knows what really drives him

and it isn't the technology
that will drive him.

Sub two hours has everything to
do with the changing of times,

changing of history, changing
of sports in general.

But what remains, there is a guy a
fantastic athlete, Eliud Kipchoge,

who is running 42 kilometers.

Yes, there is some
science involved

but it's still a person
that has to do this.

I think Eliud did not
land from another planet.

We know what he has done,
we know his potential.

He ran a world record in Berlin.

And I think the opinions of people
should be reflected in reality

of exactly the journey
he has come through.

I think
there was a slight trip.

- Was there a trip?
Yes.

I just saw Eliud have a little
trip-up in that transition.

12K to go, then.

This is where the critical
stage of the race starts.

We can make some comparisons
with how he was going in Monza.

Actually, up to halfway, he
was inside sub two-hour pace.

And at halfway exactly, he
was three seconds inside

and then at 25K, he was
still two seconds inside.

Even at 30K, he was only two
seconds outside sub two-hour pace.

And he admitted afterwards
that it was in the final 10K

when he really
started to feel it.

Literally no human
has tried to attempt this.

There's a lot of
unknowns physiologically

as to what Eliud can handle.

He's putting
himself through something

really, really extraordinary
here, and he will be emotional.

Thoughts bubble up. Thoughts
you think you suppressed.

Bad demons sit on one shoulder
and good angels sit on the other.

The
way you think about pain,

is the way your life will be.

In this world, you need to undergo
pain in order to be successful.

If you understand
how marathon is,

at the apex of the pain,
that's where success is.

In training, he has
visualized these tough moments

and he's pushed through in training
and said, "This is the crucial moment.

This is when you have to execute
and push through the pain."

So, he has practiced
this over and over.

We've just detected
the slightest smile-stroke-grimace

on the face of Eliud Kipchoge.

When the smile appears, Shalane,

that normally suggests
that he's hurting.

Yeah, that's the classic Eliud,
when he is leaning into that hurt.

It means he's working hard.

He has to
be thinking right now,

and I'm sure this is a
version of what he's thinking,

"If not now, when?"

He looked like
he came through that moment.

In the mission control,
it was, like...

This is on. This is on
now. This is coming!

And it was exciting, like, "Oh!"

It's just those moments,
what you live for in sport!

One and a half hours
about to click round on the clock.

We have just under 30 minutes
to try and get Eliud Kipchoge

into the history
books, here in Vienna.

And I can't stress enough,

the crowd out on the course
is absolutely phenomenal.

He gives energy
and he gets energy back.

And that is a wonderful
place to be in.

We Kenyans are very
good as a cheer squad.

It's all about the
support at the back

that comes out shining
to the whole world.

He has trained himself
incredibly well for what is going on

and what he takes in, and what he
shuts down from the outside world.

Here we go,
this is team number eight.

Wow. I think we just need to take a
pause, don't we, and just breathe?

I feel
very nervous right now.

Because anyone who has
ever run a marathon

will know that the
last few miles,

anything can happen, and
the wheels can come off.

He looks really good. You're
just hoping that he's got this.

Here are the final team
of pacemakers, team number nine.

They will take them home from 38
kilometers right through to the finish.

And the captain, of course, he
was the captain in the first team.

It's Bernard Lagat.

There he is, itching
to go, Bernard Lagat.

And how fitting that the 44 -year-old,
the oldest pacemaker in the team,

the most experienced and a
dear, dear friend of Eliud,

should be the captain
on the final leg.

We're on the verge of
history here, folks.

We don't know what the
limits of human performance are.

There are people who
think they do know

and remarkable humans,
and teams of humans,

keep proving them wrong.

Our own
individual performances

are nearly always linked to a
collective performance somewhere.

And I think for all of us, in
all walks of life, in fact,

we're stronger together.

It goes so much further than
running. So much further than sport.

It goes to show

that the preconceived limits that
everyone has on everything in life,

can be challenged.
It's incredible.

That line,
"No human is limited,"

I would impart it on any girl.

That no matter your gender, no
matter where you're born from,

you are not limited.

You are supposed to actualize
your dreams and your passion.

It means that
you should always work hard,

no matter what.

Not listening to negativity,
but listening to positive minds.

In most circumstances,
you and me limit ourselves.

It is not other people who limit
us. It is us who limit ourselves.

And I do believe the moment
we get over that hurdle,

then you have the whole world outside
there open for you to conquer.

I think the concept is spreading
in all sectors of our society.

It is a momentum that
is, to me, positive.

You meet teachers from different
schools that, when preparing students,

they are quoting the "No
human is limited" story.

And we can see
lives being changed.

I don't know
about you guys, but my heart,

I can feel it pounding
in my shirt this morning.

It's 500 meters to go,
he is almost there.

He has one hand on
history here in Vienna.

There was an
agreement, that if he felt good,

he was gonna tell Valentijn and
the other guys would peel off.

And, sure enough, Valentijn gets
the nod and they pulled off. Oh!

What a wonderful moment!

What an absolutely
brilliant moment.

Three hundred meters
to go, let's bring him home.

He's pointing.
"Come on!" he says.

Eliud Kipchoge has the hand
of history on his shoulder.

Neil Armstrong we had
on the moon in 1969.

We had Roger Bannister and the
four-minute mile 65 years ago.

Edmund Hillary, the first man
to climb Everest, in 1953.

Eliud Kipchoge is
on his way here.

It's overwhelming,
you know? It's a big deal.

People talk about these
things, they look at it.

"A guy ran a marathon."

He's the first bloke ever,
ever in the human race,

in human history, to do that.

And you think, "Oh, God."

And in a crazy little way
you've supported that, you know?

And it means a lot. It means
a lot to a lot of people.

It means a lot to me.