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Kenya's Eliud Kipchoge sets new unofficial marathon world record

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It may not be an official world record, but reigning Olympic marathon champion Eliud Kipchoge fell just 25 seconds shy of becoming the first human to run a marathon in under two hours. 

Kipchoge finished Nike's "Breaking 2" marathon on Saturday with a time of two hours and 24 seconds while running with a group attempting to crack the two-hour mark. 

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The 32-year-old Kenyan shaved eight minutes off his time at the 2016 Olympics to break the world record of 2:02:57 set by countryman Dennis Kimetto on Sept. 28, 2014 at the Berlin Marathon.

Unfortunately for Kipchoge, his livestreamed marathon at a Formula One race track in Monza, Italy, will not count toward an official world record because of pacing and hydration rules. 

Kipchoge was joined by two-time Boston Marathon winner Lelisa Desisa and half marathon world record-holder Zersenay Tadese in the small group, which ran about 17 1/2 laps of the 2.4-kilometer circuit at  Autodromo Nazionale Monza.

"I hope next time, I can get it under the two-hour mark," Kipchoge said following his run. 

 

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