Tim Peake of the European Space Agency completed the 2016 London Marathon on Sunday (April 24), running the 26.2 miles (42.2 km) while circling the Earth about two and half times at an altitude of 250 miles (400 km) high.
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For the 44-year-old astronaut, who has been overseas the space station since December 2015, the marathon looked and took place under completely different conditions than the 42,000 runners who also ran in London – different to say the least.
During a livestream interview from the ISS streamed Friday, Peake spoke out about a few of the differences between running on the ground and in space.
Tim Peake running the London Marathon aboard the ISS, as shown by the European Space Agency.
The first ISS marathon was completed by US astronaut Sunita Williams in 2007. In 2007, NASA astronaut Sunita Williams ran the Boston marathon in four hours, 23 minutes and 10 seconds.
People dressed in all manner of outfits, including brightly coloured wigs, full body suits and face paints ran the route, cheered on by family, friends and other supporters as they ran from Greenwich to The Mall.
He took part in the London Marathon, which is counted as Britain’s biggest mass participation race.
Double Olympic victor Dame Kelly Holmes has credited the music of Prince for keeping her relaxed as she took on her first marathon alongside thousands of others in a record-breaking year for the race.
Running a marathon in space has its own set of challenges.
His time earned him a spot in the Guinness World Records for the fastest marathon in space.
“The toughest part has been getting used to this harness system – it is not very comfortable to run in”. In 2015, his time was the second fastest of all time, only 7 seconds behind the world best at the 2014 Berlin Marathon, won by fellow Kenyan Dennis Kimetto.
The London Marathon recorded almost 38,000 runners competing yesterday and one among them ran in orbit 200 miles above our planet. As tens of thousands of runners pounded the pavement in the streets of London, Peake went the distance strapped into a harness.
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Major Peake said: “I’ve been doing longer runs at 7.5mph and I’m confident I can keep that going”. In preparation for the run, most of the 38,000 runners will have completed months of training.
