What does it take as an athlete to reach the point of not only elite status, but setting world records on an elite level? It seems like every year, every Olympics, athletes are only getting stronger and faster from previous records, breaking records that were only just broken the year before. It’s no news to hear of particular athletes breaking world records, take Michael Phelps for example. He has attended 5 Olympics in his career and has broken world records that were previously set by himself on multiple occasions. However, no matter how many times it happens, it does not take away the fascination that we, as a society, find every time we hear a new world record was broken.
I think it’s the idea of doing the impossible and the unthought of that people find inspiring. Sports are a relatable subject for almost everyone and provide inspiration for ‘normal’ people to break records and the impossible in their own life whether that be in the office, their own personal bests in running, or finally completing their major project.
The most recent world record broken in the world of running was set on September 16, 2018 by Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge. He broke the world record of the fastest ran marathon clocking at 2:01:39. This is just one of many impressively fast times set by Kipchoge in his mission to run a 2 hour marathon: something that was thought of as impossible until Kipchoge started showing how close he is coming to achieving it.
While every world record is impressive, I think this one can resonate with people a little bit more. On average, 24% (64 million) of the U.S. population partakes in running and 45% of runners in the U.S. have participated in 2-5 marathons, whether it was competitive or just to do it. The average finishing time is 4:22:07 for men and 4:47:40 for women. Clearly Kipchoge is in a league of his own. With so many runners amongst the population, people can relate to how hard this level running is to maintain which only adds to the excitement of watching Kipchoge on his journey to reach his goal of a 2 hour marathon.
The most fascinating part of his most recent and fastest set time is after the halfway mark, he actually picked up his pace rather than slowed down. To answer the question stated at the beginning of this, that is kind of mindset it takes to break world records: the harder the race gets, the harder you push. This lesson can be applied into all aspects of life and Kipchoge is inspiring more than just the running community with that kind of mentality. It will be exciting to watch Kipchoge finally get the 2 hour marathon and at the rate he’s going, I don’t think he’s too far off of it!
*Facts and photo from the marathon retrieved from https://edition.cnn.com/2018/09/17/sport/eliud-kipchoge-marathon-world-record-spt-intl/index.html
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