INSIDE NIKE’S QUEST FOR THE IMPOSSIBLE: A TWO-HOUR MARATHON
inside['ɪn'saɪd] nike’s['naiki:] quest[kwɛst] for the impossible: a two-hour marathon ['mærə,θɑn]
By Ed[ed] Caesar['si:zə]
THE WORLD RECORD for a marathon['mærə,θɑn], set by Dennis['denis] Kimetto of Kenya/ˈkɛnjə/ in Berlin/bɝ'lɪn/ in September 2014, stands at two hours, two minutes, and 57 seconds. If that number means nothing to you, understand this: running 26.2 miles/mailz/ in 2:02:57 is absurdly/əb'sə:dli/ fast [fæst]. The speed required, a little under 13(thirteen) mph(miles per hour) for a little over two hours, is unimaginable[,ʌnɪ'mædʒɪnəbl] for all but a few of the world’s very best marathoners/ˈmærəˌθɑnɚ/, and it causes[kɔ:ziz] even those/ðoz/ East African['æfrɪkən] supermen to glimpse[ɡlɪmps] the abyss[ə'bɪs]. I remember watching Kimetto’s mouth[maʊθ] pursed [pɝs] with agony ['æɡəni] as he approached the Brandenburg['brændənbə:ɡ] Gate on the cool, sunny['sʌni] day he broke the record, and thinking he might split[splɪt] in two from the effort.
He won/wʌn/, of course, beating by 26 seconds the record Wilson['wilsən] Kipsang had set the previous year. But even Kimetto, with his giant['dʒaɪənt] heart and ostrich['ɔstrɪtʃ] legs[lɛgs], still fell[fɛl] well short of a barrier['bærɪɚ] long thought[θɔt] impregnable[ɪm'prɛɡnəbl], at least for this generation of athletes['æθlits]: to run a marathon in under two hours.
Today, after two years of preparation /ˌprɛpə'reʃən/ and research, Nike is announcing[ə'naunsiŋ] a project called Breaking2 that has a single ['sɪŋɡl] goal: to break the two-hour mark in a special marathon planned for the spring of 2017. If the attempt is successful, it will be the most significant[sɪɡ'nɪfɪkənt] moment for running since Roger['rɑdʒɚ] Bannister’s['bænɪstɚ] first sub-four-minute mile in 1954. Nike calls the project its “Mission['mɪʃən] to Mars[mɑrz],” and its team of designers[dɪ'zaɪnɚ], scientists['saɪəntɪsts], coaches[kotʃ], and statisticians[,stæti'stiʃən] believes that on a specially[‘spɛʃəli] designated['dɛzɪg,netɪd] course[kɔrs] in an as-yet undetermined [,ʌndɪ’tɝmɪnd] location, it can propel[prə'pɛl] at least one world-class athlete['æθlit], and possibly three, to shave [ʃev] three percent from Kimetto’s world record.
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