As thousands of runners gathered in the United Kingdom capital on Sunday for the annual London Marathon, astronaut Tim Peake was busy strapping himself to a treadmill on the International Space Station, using a special harness allowing him to run the 42k race in zero gravity conditions.
Advertisement
Scott and Jackson worked closely with Peake on Earth to prepare him for his mission, but will compete against their colleague on Sunday as they attempt to break the respective male and female Guinness World Records for completing the marathon race in space suits.
Peake said he expected the weightlessness of space to help him recover from the grueling 26.2 mile (42 km) run. But on the other, it means Peake relied on a harness attached to a treadmill in order to feel his own weight.
Peake, 44, is the first Briton to travel to the International Space Station.
When not being used to run marathons, the treadmills on the International Space Station are used by the astronauts for their daily exercises to counteract the negative effects microgravity has on their their muscle mass and bones.
We’re sure that when asked to run a marathon, many of us would probably balk at the idea and come up with all kinds of excuses as to why we can’t do it. Peake had to be tethered to a state-of-the-art space treadmill with bungee cords, and doctors on Earth closely watched his physiological readouts throughout, The Guardian reported.
“Tim was adamant that we raise funds for the Prince’s Trust and so far I think we have raised about £3,000”.
In the elite men’s race Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge successfully defended his 2015 title, completing the course in a record time, while fellow Kenyan Jemima Sumgong won the elite women’s race. She will run her 20th London Marathon, raising money for disabled young people’s charity Whizz-Kidz. The first was Sunita Williams in 2007.
British astronaut Tim Peake was able to complete the London Marathon from up in space, joining about 38,000 runners back on Earth.
The event is well-known for competitors donning costumes and this year’s race has seen a number of runners adopt a Shakespearean theme to mark the 400th anniversary of the bard’s death.
Advertisement
And while Peake’s performance is remarkable for a space marathon, he came far behind the time recorded by the victor of the race on Earth.
