It's difficult to put Eliud Kipchoge's incredible sub-two-hour marathon from October 2019 into context. Like Roger Bannister, who broke the four-minute mile in 1954, the Kenyan accomplished something that many people thought was physically impossible.
Some will argue about the details, but the facts are astounding. Kipchoge raced 26.2 kilometers in 1:59:40 on a specially designed route in Vienna, Austria. Because regular competition standards for pacing and fluids were not followed, and thus was not a 'open' race, it did not count as an official marathon world record. Throughout, he was paced by a car and a well coordinated squad of expert runners.