United Kingdom astronaut Tim Peake has broken the world record for fastest marathon run in space.
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Peake will be pounding alongside them in a virtual marathon competed on a treadmill in the International Space Station.
British astronaut Tim Peake refused to let the small matter of being 200 miles above Earth prevent him from taking part in the London Marathon on Sunday.
Peake, who completed the 1999 London Marathon in 3 hours 18min 50sec, will be monitored by the European Astronaut Centre in the German city Cologne to ensure he will maintain peak fitness for his return to Earth on June 5. Mirroring Peake on terra firma will be Dr Jonathan Scott and Libby Jackson, aiming to break a world record for the fastest marathon wearing a space suit.
Organizers said this year’s London Marathon was historic, predicting a record number of participants while the millionth runner in the history of the event will cross the finish line. Peake is the second astronaut to run a marathon from the International Space Station.
On the ground, the best male and female times were set by Eliud Kipchoge, 31, and Jemima Sumgong, 31, who ran the marathon in two hours, two minutes and 57 seconds and two hours, 22 minutes and 58 seconds, respectively.
“Firstly, I’ve got the Run Social app, so I’ll actually be looking at the route I am running, and I’ll be running along everyone else who’s running the digital version of the London Marathon”. As tens of thousands of runners pounded the pavement in the streets of London, Peake went the distance strapped into a harness.
“The toughest part’s been getting used to this harness system”, said the astronaut. “It’s not very comfortable to run in; it’s like running with a clumsy rucksack on”.
It is thought 39,000 people participated in the race this year and 31 world records were broken.
Peake’s experience was similar in one aspect, however, as he was able to hear the crowd cheer and the course ahead of him via the RunnSocial app. Jaekel said the speed of the treadmill was synced to the speed of which he saw the course ahead.
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Peake will spend a total of six months in space. He had completed the first 17 miles in 2 hours, 27 minutes, race officials tweeted.
