British astronaut Tim Peak is becoming the first man to run a marathon in space – nine years after a woman ran one. According to Peake, recovery is faster up there in space from any type of sprains or aches.
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He followed up with a message sent after he completed the marathon, in which he noted that while he had run the 42 kilometres the International Space Station had travelled nearly 100,000 kilometres.
“Running a marathon in general seems like an insane proposition to me, but running it in space?”
Mr Peake’s zero gravity effort, while out of this world, was still more than a quarter of an hour slower than the 3:18:50 he had clocked on earth as a keen, ultra-fit fun runner back in 1999.
Runners make their way across Tower Bridge during the Virgin Money London Marathon on Saturday in London. In 2007, Sunita Williams had completed Boston Marathon from the International Space Station in 4 hours, 23 minutes and 10 seconds.
“Guinness World Records can confirm that ESA Astronaut Tim Peake has achieved a brand new Guinness World Records title for the Fastest marathon in orbit”, the records body wrote on its website.
Tim Peake’s marathon gets underway on the ISS.
Regular exercise is critical for astronauts in the space station to stave off muscle loss, bone density decline and the many other health problems that can come with long periods of weightlessness.
Double Olympic victor Dame Kelly Holmes has credited the music of Prince for keeping her relaxed as she took on her first marathon.
Peake also acted as the official starter of the race from space. He wished good luck to every participant and said that he was hopeful to meet everybody at the finish line. Jonathan Scott and Libby Jackson from the UK Space Agency ran the marathon.
He also tweeted a photograph of England’s capital from space accompanied by the message: “Hello #London!”.
He then proceeded to join the race competing with the runners from space.
Seasoned runner Humphrey Nemar also joined the team.
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A runner is greeted by his son at the end of the marathon. “That’s just awesome”, Gizmodo commented. He blasted off in December for a six-month mission that has generated considerable excitement in Britain.
