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On 12th October 2019 Eliud Kipchoge became the first person in history to break the legendary sub-two-hour marathon barrier, recording a time of 1:59:40.2.
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Kipchoge was supported by the INEOS 1:59 Performance team, led by Team INEOS’ Sir Dave Brailsford, who applied scientific knowledge and high performance principles to give Kipchoge the best possible chance of success.
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INEOS and the 1851 Trust have launched three new free digital education resources aimed at young people aged 11-16 on STEM Crew inspired by the science behind Eliud Kipchoge’s history making moment.
INEOS and the 1851 Trust, a charity committed to taking science beyond the textbook by engaging young people in the cutting edge technology of high performance sport, have launched three new free digital learning resources inspired by Eliud Kipchoge’s historic sub-two-hour marathon.
Whilst the INEOS 1:59 Challenge was undoubtedly first and foremost a feat of incredible human achievement, to provide Kipchoge with the optimal conditions required to take the 26 seconds off his previous attempt at breaking the barrier required a significant amount of innovation and scientific expertise.
The work of the INEOS 1:59 Performance team, led by Team INEOS’ Sir Dave Brailsford, combined the brightest minds in high performance sport to ensure that from the course selection and optimisation, to the weather analysis, to the aerodynamics and more, no stone was left unturned.
The digital education resources, aimed at 11-16 year olds and available for free online today, take young people into the INEOS 1:59 performance team and explore the science and theory that went into giving Kipchoge the best possible conditions to make history in Vienna.
The three challenges focus on three key aspects of the huge task Kipchoge and the INEOS 1:59 Performance team faced; the pacemaker strategy, nutrition and course selection. Students can put themselves into the roles of the 1:59 Performance team and investigate what it takes to do something that has never been done before and run a sub-two-hour marathon by carrying out engaging hands-on practical work in physics, biology and maths.
The resources include class-facing presentations, activity and lab sheets as well as a project workbook to guide students through the challenges. All lessons are fully linked to the UK National Curriculum and are completely free.
Eliud Kipchoge said:
“The INEOS 1:59 Challenge combined science and sport to prove that no human is limited. Sport can inspire, bring positivity and unify people and I wanted to bring that message to the whole world.
“To help me make history I had a fantastic team behind me with a lot of expertise in science and high performance. It was important to me that Challenge left a legacy for the future generation and it is great that INEOS and the 1851 Trust are now using the science behind 1:59 to educate children across the world.
“Without the scientific and technological knowledge of my team and the INEOS 1:59 team I would not have been able to make history in Vienna.”
INEOS 1:59 Challenge CEO and TEAM INEOS Team Principal Sir Dave Brailsford said:
“Eliud is a once in a generation athlete and in the INEOS 1:59 Challenge it was our responsibility to use our knowledge to give him the best possible conditions which would enable him to make history and prove that no human is limited. That is why we had some of the brightest minds in high performance sport work closely together with Eliud’s brilliant team.
“A huge amount of science and high performance principles went into the project, covering everything from the pacemaker formation through to the decision to hold the event in Vienna. It was always Eliud’s dream to leave a legacy and it is brilliant to see INEOS and the 1851 Trust now take the learnings from the Challenge and turn them into educational resources to inspire young people across the world.”
