BREAKING2 THOUGHTS part. I
We asked openly if people would share their thoughts on Breaking2, how did it move them? or provoke them? men — women. All over the world. Here is their unfiltered thoughts.
Claudia Wollaston, 18 years old, New Zealand:
“My name is Claudia and I am an 18 y/o from New Zealand, and I love to run. I ran my first full marathon at age 17 last year. I am also a student at university, studying sport and exercise science, so when I heard about the Breaking2 project I was obviously interested! I did a lot of research on all the planning behind the project and was able to watch the livestream. This year I have had a very rough year, I have had 5 surgeries on my knee, so have not been able to run since January and have spent a lot of time in hospital and on bed rest at home. Seeing the Breaking2 Project definitely was inspiring, firstly with my studies, to see how the two things I love the most: science and running, make such an impact and break previous boundaries.To see so many people believe in the Project, was inspiring and reminded me that truly nothing is impossible, and if you work hard enough goals can become a reality. All though the Sub 2 mark was not broken, in my eyes the project was still such a huge success, and has motivated me to stay positive, work hard and would absolutely love to work on a project like Breaking2 in the future. I love to push myself and to see these huge barriers being pushed was a huge motivator and excited me to continue to break down walls, especially as a woman I feel society can often place these walls for us when I know I am capable of more.”
Zimatu Chukumerije:
“I have always been passionate about running. I have spent half of my life running and although I was better at sprinting I was drawn to the movement of a long distance runner. To be able to run fast but for a long time, keeping composure with graceful form and at times switching gears with pure grit to finish. Watching this race was intense, inspiring and empowering. Seeing Kipchoge run from beginning to end was a delight. He looked so strong, focused and grateful to be taking on this huge task to try to break 2hrs. From the begining I had a feeling Kipchoge would come out to finish first. He has this aura about him when he runs that makes you think hey maybe I can do this too. Anything is possible. During the 2hr marathon showing they showed clips of the 3 runners talking about their training and why they are doing this and Kip’s words stuck with me “Marathon is Life”. It was something to me that I could relate to that living life is like partaking in a marathon. That you have ups/downs but if you keep going you will prevail. And in running we all continue because we believe we can improve and that there is no limit if we keep pushing through. This quote is now tattooed on my wrist near where I wear my garmin running watch, so that with every run I will remember and I will have it as a daily motivator of what I am capable of.”
Carlos Furnari:
“A lot of people have and will continue to talk about how amazing Eliud’s performance was, and what an amazingly inspiring human he is — both of which I agree with. I have also had the privilege of meeting and working with Eliud years ago when he was still finding his peak as a track athlete — so can definitely confirm firsthand that he is an amazing guy.Get voltwomen’s stories in your inbox
Join Medium for free to get updates from this writer.
So given this, I’d rather not focus on Eliud’s performance, but rather, on the other two athletes; Zerzenay & Lelisa.
There is no shying away from the fact that for them, the breaking2 attempt, although gallant, given the optimum set up for running fast, was by comparison… a disaster.
In the pursuit of history, Lelisa danced the fine line of his personal limits and completely blew up — spectacularly. Alarmingly? Zerzenay, although running a substantial PR, one would argue that he too, to a lesser degree, also slowly fell victim to pushing beyond his limits.
So what does this mean for elite marathoners and their pursuit of lowering the official WR, in an officially sanctioned event? What can be gleaned?
Will having seen what Eliud has achieved inspire them to push their own limits? Will we see chunks of time being taken off PR’s? Will elite racers now go flat out from the gun? Will the official WR be treated with contempt and be beaten en masse?
For the most part I suspect not. For most I think it may be marathon business as usual. I think Lelisa’s heartbreaking coming unstuck will act as a warning sign: Proceed with caution! Danger ahead!
We are talking about East Africans for whom running, or more specifically, running big money major marathons is their livelihood; Go hard from the gun. Push the limits. Create history. Will they be willing to take this risk now knowing that if they do, there is an even bigger risk that they may walk away (if they can walk) with no prize money, no livelihood at all?
Who knows? Not me, that’s for sure. But it will be interesting to see how major marathons now play out. It will also be interesting to see just how long it does or doesn’t take us to erase that extra 26 seconds.”
