Guinness World Records’ head of records Marco Frigatti adjudicated Peake’s attempt via live video link at the European Astronaut Centre of ESA in Cologne. “Hello London! Fancy a run?”
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He ran the 26.2-mile route while watching TV coverage of the race and with the help of an iPad app called RunSocial that simulated the marathon route from Shooters Hill in southeast London to Westminster. “Tim Peake is the proud holder of a Guinness World Record title”.
Peake, 44, finished the race with a time of 03:35:21, event organizers say.
On April 16, 2007, Sunita Williams of NASA ran the Boston Marathon aboard the space station, completing the feat in four hours and 24 minutes.
While some sources said he became the first man or astronaut to complete the marathon in space, The Guardian and Gizmodo confirmed he was not the first astronaut to complete the marathon in space.
That’s right, the small matter of gravity (or lack of it) meant Peake needed a way of making sure he could actually put one foot in front of the other to complete the course.
He was 400 kilometres from the start line, but that was no barrier to British astronaut Tim Peake competing in the London Marathon.
He said he did not think he would be setting any personal bests, but said he would aim to complete the course in under four hours.
Two of his colleagues from the European Space Agency are also running in London in replica space suits, marathon organizers said. As tens of thousands of runners pounded the pavement in the streets of London, Peake went the distance strapped into a harness.
This isn’t the first time he has taken part in the London Marathon as he took home a time of three hours, 19 minutes and 50 seconds in 1999.
In another milestone for the race, which is in its 36th year and for which more than 39,000 people have been allocated places, the one millionth competitor will cross the finish line on Sunday. Kipchoge’s time was only seven seconds outside the world record.
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Peake may have logged just over 26 miles on the treadmill, but when you factor in the space station’s orbit, he traveled over 60,000 miles during his race.
