History-making marathon run owes much to multi-billionaire Sir Jim
HE may not have been the man who ran the first ever sub two-hour marathon but multi-billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe was the driving force behind smashing the record as part of his latest sporting foray.
Sir Jim, who runs the petrochemical giant INEOS which has offices in Lyndhurst and has a home at Beaulieu, was at the finish line to congratulate Kenyan superstar Eluid Kipchoge in Vienna on Sunday, after the runner crossed the line in 1:59.41, calling his performance “sensational”.
“It is quite difficult to believe it's actually happened because it happened so quickly,” Sir Jim (66), said. “That last kilometre where he actually accelerated and came through on his own was just superhuman. I can't believe he did it.”
In completing the challenge Kipchoge vindicated a monumental effort by Sir Jim to set a new marathon landmark in the 65th year since Roger Bannister ran the first four-minute mile.
It also heralded the latest sporting achievement bankrolled by Sir Jim and INEOS.
A football fanatic who supports Manchester United and has a Chelsea season ticket, he has increasingly invested in the sporting world in the past few years, purchasing football teams FC Lausanne Sport in Switzerland and OSC Nice in France.
Earlier this year he also took over the former Team Sky cycling team, rebranding it Team INEOS – which triumphed at the 2019 Tour de France.
But since Sir Jim is a keen runner who has completed the New York Marathon and trekked to the north and south poles, the marathon challenge was particularly close to his heart.
To help Kipchoge, who is recognised as the greatest marathon runner ever and the existing record holder with a time of 2.01.39, Sir Jim enlisted 41 world class pacemakers and set up a specialist team that did painstaking research into how to conquer mark.
They sought the flattest ground they could undertake the challenge on and researched the mildest times when Kipchoge should run.
On the day itself nothing was left to chance; the runners followed a specially developed laser led green beam to ensure they did not deviate from the quickest path and 34-year-old Kipchoge wore the latest innovative Nike shoe.
Speaking at the finish line, Sir Jim said: “Everything had to go right to do this and it's been immaculately well organised. It was especially brilliant to see the pacemakers because running is normally such a solitary sport and here they were all running for Eliud.”
Kipchoge said it was “a great feeling”, remarking: “I am the happiest man in the world to be the first human to run under two hours and I can tell people that no human is limited.”
