“I am running in space to raise awareness of The Prince’s Trust, which has a team running on the ground-Team Astronaut-while I’m running on the ISS”, Peake said.
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According to Dr. Jonathan Scott of the Space Medicine Office at the European Space Agency treadmill running is a routine and important part of living in space.
We’ll note that Peake will not be credited with the International Space Station’s speed, which is normally around 4.75 miles a second a rate at which he’d finish the marathon in less than 6 seconds. He will be the first to run the same distance Londoners will be running at the London Marathon.
British astronaut Tim Peake plans to run next year’s London Marathon while he’s floating in orbit on the International Space Station.
It’s a worldwide running event and it’s the time to take it out of the world, Peake said in the video. When he returns to Earth, they will be distributed to thousands of British schools and grown to see if they have been affected by six months in space. It won’t be the first time he has run the race, having finished it in 3 hours and 18 minutes in 1999, but it will be his first attempt in zero gravity.
At 10:00 GMT on 24 April, as things kick off on the streets of London, Peake will commence his own 42km virtual marathon while strapped into the T2 Combined Operational Load Bearing External Resistance Treadmill, aka Colbert. “One of the biggest challenges I’ll be facing is the harness system”, Peak told BBC News. In microgravity I would float if I didn’t strap myself down to the treadmill so I have to wear a harness system that’s a bit similar to a rucksack. After about 40 minutes to an hour, that gets very uncomfortable to run in. “I’ve set myself a goal of anywhere between three and a half hours to four hours”.
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“The idea is that I will feel I am running it along with everyone on the streets, while orbiting the Earth at 249 miles above the surface and doing 16,777 miles per hour”.
