Nike Breaking2 Documentary Premiere

NIKE BREAKING2 DOCUMENTARY PREMIERE: In May 2017, three runners (Eliud Kipchoge, Zersenay Tadese and Lelisa Desisa) took on one of the most ambitious running challenges since Roger Bannister broke the 4-minute mile. The culmination of an epic campaign powered by Nike, the target of this final moment in the Breaking2 project was simple, run 26.2 miles around the Autodromo Nazionale Monza fixed 2.4-km loop race track in 1:59:59. The hunt for the elusive sub-2 hour marathon was on.

While the numbers are simple to say, in reality attempting to break through one of the most iconic barriers of human endurance was anything but. With millions of dollars spent on the most advanced sports tech, not least of which was the fully bespoke Nike Vaporfly Elite shoes each runner wore for the attempt, the pressure on the runners was huge.

One of the most detailed accounts of just how monumental the Breaking2 task was was provided by Wired.com’s Ed Caesar and is well worth a read.

But as of 9pm BST tonight, you’ll also be able to relive the entire thing with the premiere of National Geographic’s documentary that follows this sometimes controversial exploration into how fast we can really run a marathon.

The athletes’ epic journeys — from being invited to join the team, to going through tests in wind tunnels and sports labs, and their day-to-day lives in eastern Africa, right through crossing the finish line — are chronicled in “Breaking2,” a one-hour documentary special produced by National Geographic Studios as part of a co-production partnership with Nike. The film goes to the heart of the power of human potential and explores the emotional journey that bonded these three super-athletes as they gave their all to try to make the impossible possible.