BREAKING: Date for Eliud Kipchoge’s INEOS 1:59 Challenge Confirmed

It is now official that Kenyan Olympic marathoner Eliud Kipchoge will attempt to run below two hours, on Saturday.

Prior to his move to Vienna where the event will be held, it had been announced that the historic moment would be staged between October 12 and 14, depending on weather conditions of the Austrian city.

But the sponsors and organizers, INEOS have now confirmed that Kipchoge will get down to work on Saturday, October 12.  However, the exact time for the event will be announced on Friday. It had been tentatively set for between 6 am and 10 am Kenyan time.

“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 on Saturday 12th October in Vienna, Austria,” INEOS’ statement read in parts.

INEOS have also come out to explain why they picked Vienna for the event.

CEO Fran Millar says a lot were put into considerations including climate stability. “We did a pretty comprehensive search. And we had some criteria that was set by performance team and by Eliud Kipchoge himself in terms of what he was looking for. They range from climatic conditions to environmental conditions,” she said.

Head of Meteorology at INEOS Walter Zwiefthofer says Vienna has the most favourable humidity and weather conditions.

“For humidity, we want something like 80% and about temperature 10 degrees Celsius where it feels most comfortable,” he said.

London Marathon Events Director Hugh Brasher says the city has one of the straightest roads for the race.

“Not only that it (Vienna) has stable weather conditions but because we have a course that only has an incline of 2.4m. it is probably the straightest piece of road I’ve ever seen. The quality of the air in Vienna is also stunning,” she said.

The challenge will be streamed live by YouTube. Viewers will also have the option to watch it on a ground-breaking second screen option on INEOS Challenge website.

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