You said about your wife, well, my wife sounded like @JibberJim - I half understand their points, but am still totally in awe of the achievement.
But…think of it like cycling…it’d be like doing a 25TT in 30 minutes tucked behind a car.
Yeah i get that it isn’t ‘legitimate’ in the truest sense. But its still an incredible endeavour in human performance. By that token every single record or sporting endeavour is basically pointless, unless ‘someone’ (anyone) is interested in it. Then it has a point.
Why do we compete as hard as we do? Some may say what’s the point in that. You just need enough exercise to be healthy. Most on here are way beyond that.
My wife just had no interest whatsoever. 
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The amazing thing about this is that now he knows what it feels like to run at this speed. Those Berlin and London records are going to change next year.
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Exactly this.
Same with the 4:00/mile.
As soon as one person does it, proves it’s possible, everyone else then believes and it is so
So I did go and look up the fastest mile, I think it’s 3:24 but it’s so uncelebrated that I couldn’t even find a - that’s good, that’s almost 20 seconds better than WR, how come that has proven anything about what is actually possible.
Of course those marathon road records are going to fall, we know the shoes make you faster - there’s a whole thread on it - as long as it’s enough to make up for the sad loss of nike oregpn project.
http://roa.h-cdn.co/assets/14/01/1420052854-screen_shot_2014-12-31_at_20931_pm.png
You mean like how the bicycle landspeed record is set?
Exactly.
Yep, exactly, no-one cares about it at all. The 3:30 mile will surely be an absolutely massive achievement one day, does anyone know who the first person to do it was, or what the current best is?
The hour record is of course more similar, does anyone now remember the actual record set at the time - it was even within the rules for the competition at that time and a big deal, people here probably will, but outside the UK, will anyone remember it?
I think people are struggling to differentiate between shades of grey here. Yes Kipchogee’s attempt was optimised to give him the best change of breaking the result but ultimate all those things were very minor benefits. Even the pacers acting as wind breaks we are talking very small performance benefits. Its not like cycling at 30+mph where the wind factor becomes much greater. Remember doubling your speed means an 8x increase in the amount of power required to overcome the wind resistance so conversely, going from 12.9 mph (2:02 marathon) to 13.1 is a 1.7% speed increase so we’re talking a 5% increase in force generation for the athlete, everything else being equal.
Conversely, assuming about 700 W to 60 kph in a velodrome (approx 1km time trial record) and compare that to the current land speed record of 296 kph and we’re talking circa. 84,000 W or an 12,000%. Clearly this is not a human increase. Kichopge still had to move his legs at a rate and power broadly similar to other marathon speed runs and what is likely to change now is we are going to see world marathon majors going through half way in 60 minutes and then see how long the front pack can hold on for before a burn up in the last mile or so.
I don’t think we are going to see any track cyclists going out at 84kW anytime soon (unless they are the secret to solving the energy crisis!)
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It’s in the mid 3:40’s from memory, and held by El Guerrouj.
I disagree with your “no-one cares” point. The 4min mile was massive when it was set because the mile was a big event at the time and 4 minutes was such a round barrier. The mile, and the hour, are now novelties. You don’t see them at big athletics or cycling events like the world championships, so they are largely out of the general populations consciousness.
The marathon is very different. Almost everyone, including people who’ve never even jogged to the shop, has an awareness of how far a marathon is. And probably knows someone who has done one. And 2 hours is a landmark threshold that just happens to have been right at the point of what was considered the human limits. Breaking through that psychological barrier almost certainly will have a more far reaching impact at the top end of elite running. Kipchoge had already made the biggest jump in the official WR in decades at Berlin last year, and then Bekele gets within 2s this year. It’s the same as Bannister breaking 4 minutes, and then it being lowered even further 6 weeks later.
The only criticism I see is that it “doesnt count”, and therefore Kipchoge has stolen the thunder from whoever is able to do it officially first. But I still think that person will get great fanfare. If anything, that Kipchoge has now done is has just whetted the appetite of the general public to the first person to do it officially. Every news report has been very clear this one is unofficial.
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Personally I found the moment of him crossing the line, pacemakers elated in the background and the roar of the crowd a special moment. I’ll remember where I was!
First memory of the 2 hour mara was a teacher reading out some fictional short story about a runner breaking 2 hours then dying happy after crossing the line during a school assembly when I was about 10. As @stenard says it’s a goal that transcends running.
Some of the comments I’ve seen seem to be throwing the baby out with the bathwater. Let’s face it - the IAAF rules are somewhat arbitrary, you’re allowed pacers, you’re allowed Nike trick shoes, you’re allowed drinks, but you’re not allowed pacers to be subbed in. Yet people thing a sub 2 hour mara in the prior conditions are proper, but what Kipchoge did is a total non-event and not worth bothering with?
One question I do have, was whether the downhill start off the bridge made the net downhill too much to be deemed an official course? Think it immediately gave them a 9s gain in the first k?
They should just run a proper race on that course with a non-fixed time so they get the weather, with a bunch of 60min HM guys pacing even 2:50s and Kipchoge against whatever minimum field is required and let him do his thing. No prize money except for breaking 2 hours 
Given the way he finished he had more in the tank.
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How many 60 min HM guys are there in the world?
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Galen Rupp’s on the list … oh wait wrong thread 
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Kipchoge’s PB is ‘only’ 59.25!
TBF he was just nipping out for milk that day.
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No, it’s at least 3:24 - you’ve gone for the non artificially aided record - the 4 minute mile attempt was all about non-artificially aided, all about 4 minute mile on the running track, not in different conditions to make it easier.
That others found it interesting is great, but I just don’t understand the appeal, and I do believe it will be forgotten, indeed I actually think the shoe rules will be changed like the swim suit rules were.
OK, so after searching, I’ve finally found what you were referring to…
I’d not really say that’s the same, but you are entitled to your opinion of course. We’ll see I guess. Even before I was remotely interested in running, I had heard about Roger Bannister. Time will tell whether Kipchoge is or is not in that same bracket of accomplishment. If someone does it legitimately in the near future, then I reckon you could be correct. If not, then this “event” could be being talked about for decades to come.
I’m going off memory and certainly not a running history buff, but wasnt Bannisters attempt largely engineered too? In that he had pacemakers which were previously unheard of, and didnt one of the pacemakers jog slow from start and get lapped and join back in so he could be fresh for his lap?
Yeah, my understanding was that it was partially contrived too. But whatever they did to play the system, it did officially count.