For Nike, the sub-two-hour marathon attempt was a "glorious failure," according to Cameron Clarke of THE DRUM. The attempt to propel one of its athletes to the "impossible" feat of a sub-two-hour marathon "may have come up an agonising 26 seconds short," but the #Breaking2 “moonshot” is likely to be remembered for "setting new standards in sports marketing regardless." Saturday at the Monza Formula 1 racetrack in Italy, 32-year-old Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge became the fastest person in history to run a marathon when he set a time of 2:00:25, about two-and-a-half minutes "faster than the current world record." Kipchoge's time "will not be officially recognised as a world record because of the carefully controlled conditions in which the race took place." But that "will not trouble Nike," which is "basking in the praise of Kipchoge’s remarkable run, which was broadcast live simultaneously on Facebook and Twitter and can be watched in full on YouTube."
Nike's "astute stage-managing" of the #Breaking2 project on social media, and the subsequent "widespread attention it has received from the world's press and broadcasters, bears more than a passing resemblance to the Red Bull Stratos jump from the edge of space" in Oct. '12, which "hitherto had been considered the high watermark of content marketing productions" (
THE DRUM, 5/6).
NO SECOND ATTEMPT: In London, Sean Ingle reported Kipchoge is "unlikely to make another dedicated assault on the two-hour marathon barrier in the foreseeable future." While there will be "an obvious temptation" for Nike -- which spent millions on marketing the attempt and the technology behind it -- to try again, the company now has "other priorities." Nike Sport Research Lab VP Matt Nurse said, "This is one particular endeavor where we have learned an awful lot about performance running, but another attempt is probably not what some other people [in our organization] want to do. We are already discussing other moonshots, perhaps related to female athletes or average athletes. So it’s not one and done, it just may take a different form next time" (GUARDIAN, 5/6). BLOOMBERG's Weiss & Townsend reported the race "used pace runners and a hydration strategy that disqualifies it for an official record," but the company refuted the suggestion that it is a "marketing stunt designed to showcase its new Zoom Vaporfly Elite more than the runners who wear the shoe." Former world record sprinter Carl Lewis said, "Today was history. When this finally happens, we'll all look back and say, 'Man, it started today, in 2017'" (BLOOMBERG, 5/6).
REACTION: In N.Y., Jeré Longman reported the attempt was "viewed by some critics as a publicity stunt." American marathon coach Kevin Hanson said, "I believe that this has everything to do with shoe sales and very little to do with marathoning." Others were "intrigued by the attempt -- albeit greatly orchestrated -- to redefine the limits of human endurance." Mayo Clinic human performance expert Dr. Michael Joyner said, "In a bigger field, I think it will happen; it increases the odds of more than one person having the day of a lifetime" (N.Y. TIMES, 5/6). The BBC reported three athletes "chased the landmark time running 2.4km laps on the Monza Grand Prix circuit, 63 years to the day since Britain's Roger Bannister ran the first ever sub four-minute mile." Monza was "chosen by the sportswear company for its gentle corners and favourable climatic conditions." Women's world-record holder Paula Radcliffe called Kipchoge's run "truly inspiring" (BBC, 5/6).
