Eliud Kipchoge has he marathon distance in under 2 hours, the first time this has been achieved. However, to say that he has run "a marathon" in this time is rather misleading.
This event was not a race and was highly organised. Kipchoge had pacemakers running in relays, the course had been specially prepared and was unusually flat, and there was constant timing information being supplied to those involved through a system of lights, both on the road and on a vehicle preceding the runners. Kipchoge was also assisted by the pacemakers forming an aerodynamically shaped barrier in front of him to provide both protection from any wind and also an aerodynamically beneficial tunnel for him to run into. For me, this whole event was not dissimilar to seeing a cricketer hit a rapid century from a succession of deliberate full tosses; it is not the real sport.
The achievement is undoubtedly significant and will go down in history as such; Kipchoge's place in that history is secured. However, we are still waiting for the first marathon race to be run in under 2 hours and we may have to wait some time for that to happen.
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