For Nike, this was glorious failure. The sportswear giant’s attempt to propel one of its athletes to the “impossible” feat of a sub-two-hour marathon may have come up an agonising 26 seconds short, but the #Breaking2 “moonshot” is likely to be remembered for setting new standards in sports marketing regardless. Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge became the fastest person in history to run a marathon when he set a time of 2 hours and 25 seconds, about 2 and a half minutes faster than the current world record. But that will not trouble Nike, which is today basking in the praise of Kipchoge’s remarkable run, which was broadcast live simultaneously on Facebook and Twitter and can be watched in full on YouTube.Kipchoge and the two other runners who were attempting to smash the two-hour barrier were each wearing a specially customised shoe called the Zoom Vaporfly Elite. Having now been splashed all over the world's media, these futuristic trainers will soon go on sale to casual runners around the world backed by acres of earned media coverage.
