'I appreciate them for accepting this job. 'They are among the best athletes in the world - so thank you,' added Kipchoge. They rotated in and out, running in formation around Kipchoge, with former 1500m and 5,000m world champion Bernard Lagat anchoring the final leg. Kipchoge was assisted by a team of 42 pacemakers, including Olympic 1500m champion Matthew Centrowitz, Olympic 5,000m silver medallist Paul Chelimo and the Ingebrigtsen brothers Jakob, Filip and Henrik. He was 10 seconds ahead of schedule at the halfway mark, before appearing to slow with a few 2:52 kilometres, only to regain the pace and kick on in the final stages. To break the mark, he had to run 100m in 17.08 seconds 422 times in a row at a speed of 21.1kph (13.1 mph).

With a leading pace car beaming green lasers on to the road to indicate the required pace of 2:50 per kilometre, Kipchoge never went slower than 2:52. How to run a marathon in less than two hours

Together when we run, we can make it a beautiful world.' I want to make it a clean and interesting sport. I've tried but I've done it,' said the Kenyan. After Roger Bannister made history, it took me another 65 years. Kipchoge, who compared the feat to being the first man on the moon in build-up to the event, said he had made history just as Britain's Sir Roger Bannister did in running the first sub four-minute mile in 1954. The four-time London Marathon winner embraced his wife Grace, grabbed a Kenyan flag and was mobbed by his pacemakers, including many of the world's best middle and long-distance runners. Knowing he was about to make history on the home straight, the pacemakers dropped back to let Kipchoge sprint over the line alone, roared on by a large crowd in the Austrian capital. The Olympic champion - who holds the official marathon world record of 2:01:39, set in Berlin, Germany in 2018 - missed out by 25 seconds in a previous attempt at the Italian Grand Prix circuit at Monza in 2017.

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