Alessandro Garofalo/Reuters
Eliud Kipchoge, the world’s Olympic marathon champion, narrowly missed an attempt to become the first person to run a marathon in less than two hours on Saturday. But the 32-year-old Kenyan national, with a finishing time of 2:00:25, still completed the fastest marathon ever run in the Breaking2 race in Italy. Kipchoge easily surpassed the world record time of 2:02:57 set by Dennis Kimetto. The marathon, which saw athletes run 17.5 laps of 1.49 miles around a Formula One course, was widely viewed as an advertising ploy rather than an official sporting event. Nike hosted the event just a few weeks before the release of new running shoes. But Kipchoge’s performance was still met with praise. “Kipchoge, I think, was remarkable. I don’t think this was a failure at all. I’m very encouraged. I think they got in Secretariat zone,” Dr. Michael Joyner, an expert in human performance at the Mayo Clinic, told the New York Times on Saturday. The marathon’s results will not be officially recognized, as the race did not meet certain requirements of the International Association of Athletics Federations.