INEOS 1:59 announces Lagat, Ingebrigtsens among pacers

On October 12 (or thereabouts, depending on weather), in a tightly-controlled event in Vienna, marathon world record-holder Eliud Kipchoge will attempt to run a marathon in under two hours. The project is called INEOS 1:59 Challenge, and the organization has released the names of the first group of runners who will pace Kipchoge to what the running world hopes will be a history-making finish. They include, among others, distance legend and American masters marathon record-holder Bernard Lagat and the trio of distance runners from Norway, Henrik, Filip and Jakob Ingebrigtsen.

We’ve announced the first group of #INEOS159 Challenge pacemakers – they are:

?? Augustine Choge
?? Victor Chumo
?? Filip Ingebrigtsen
?? Henrik Ingebrigtsen
?? Jakob Ingebrigtsen
?? Bernard Lagat
?? Jack Rayner
?? Brett Robinson

Find out more: https://t.co/ZD97sRpqQ5

— INEOS 1:59 Challenge (@INEOS159) August 16, 2019

The other names on the list are past Commonwealth Games and World Indoor Championships medallist Augustine Choge and Victor Chumo of Kenya, and 2019 Gold Coast Half-Marathon winner Jack Rayner and Olympian and three-time winner of the Melbourne Half-Marathon Brett Robinson, both of Australia.

RELATED: Kipchoge fields questions about INEOS 1:59

I’m so stoked to be among the ⁦@INEOS159⁩ Pacing Team for my friends, the G.O.A.T ?⁦@EliudKipchoge. #nohumanislimited⁩ https://t.co/4yCCrgd3dx

— Bernard Lagat OLY (@Lagat1500) August 16, 2019

Lagat, 44, one of the most decorated athletes in US running history, holds seven American records, including the 1,500m, 3,000m and 5,000m. This year he added the masters marathon to his list of American M40 records, which now includes every from the 1,500m to the marathon. He won two Olympic medals for Kenya in the 1,500m before starting to race as an American in 2007.

Olympian Henrik Ingebrigtsen, 28, is a former European champion in the 1,500m (2012) and has won six other European championship medals. He became the Norwegian 3,000m record-holder this year. His brother Filip, 26, has won two world championship medals in the 1,500m, and is the Norwegian record-holder at the distance. He is also the European cross-country champion. Jakob Ingebrigtsen, 18, won both the 1,500m and the 5,000m at last year’s European championships, and has announced he plans to race both distances at the upcoming world championships in Doha, just a couple of weeks before the INEOS 1:59 Challenge.