Astronaut Tim Peake Sets World Record: Completes London Marathon In Space

Tim Peake River Thames London Marathon RunSocial NASA ESA European Astronaut Centre in Cologne Guinness World Records International Space Station Sunita Williams

By Jonnalyn Carter , Parent Herald Apr 26, 04:45 am

Tim Peake set a world record by being the first man who completed London Marathon in space on Sunday. The astronaut reached the finish line by running 26.2 miles in three hours, 35 minutes and 21 seconds.

The marathon was originally held in River Thames. Tim Peake participated digitally with the use of an interactive application called RunSocial and by watching the race simultaneously on TV, according to Huffington Post.

To pose the same challenges as that of a marathon, Tim Peake ran on a treadmill inside the International Space Station. He was wearing a harness to control the pull of gravity that kept him from floating.

Marco Frigatti, head of documentation in the Guinness World Records, observed the challenge by watching the live video of Tim Peake from ESA's European Astronaut Centre in Cologne, Germany. Flight controllers, on the other hand, supervised his developments from the ground, Scientific American reported.

British astronaut @astro_timpeake runs the London Marathon — from space https://t.co/r8qoctzIdA https://t.co/VCzbud5ejO

— NBC News (@NBCNews) April 25, 2016

"His latest achievement is surely his greatest," Frigatti said in a statement, via Huffington Post. "Running the fastest marathon in space, on the only day off from his grueling schedule is [a] fantastic accomplishment."

At one point, Tim Peak sped up to 8.7 miles per hour. In fact, he was like circumnavigating the planet twice when he completed the race. "Tim is a true inspiration and someone we can all look up to. Literally," Frigatti added.

Coming up to mile 23 GoTim!! @astro_timpeake digital #LondonMarathon pic.twitter.com/Co168iqI1o — RunSocial (@runsocial) April 24, 2016

In spite of being the first man to complete a marathon in space, Tim Peake became the second person to finish the run. To recall, NASA astronaut Sunita Williams first set a record by finishing the Boston Marathon in 2007 in about four hours, as cited by Popular Science.

Tim Peake initially tried London Marathon in 1999 and finished in three hours and 18 minutes. He said he wasn't eyeing to break his record, but concluded another course between three and a half to four hours in December.

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