Eliud Kipchoge failed in his bid to break the sub-two hour marathon barrier, but produced a stunning performance of 2:00:25 to run the quickest recorded marathon ever at Nike’s Breaking 2 event.

The Kenyan – alongside Lelisa Desisa and world half-marathon record holder Zersenay Tadese – were bidding to lower the world record exactly 63 years since Roger Bannister ran the first four-minute mile in 1954.

The Breaking 2 running project was part of a long innovative plan by Nike to prove that lowering the world record was not impossible.

Despite not going under two hours at the iconic Monza circuit, Kipchoge lowered a world record previously set by Dennis Kimetto of Kenya in the 2014 Berlin Marathon.

Although his effort was nothing short of sensational, it will not count as an official record due to the pacing strategy.

Kipchoge said: “I’m happy to have done it. With the race I felt good, I’m a happy man to run a marathon in two hours. Now it is just 25 seconds.

“I believe in good preparation and planning and if I stick to that the 25 seconds will come.”

He added: “The aim of breaking two to bring together six billion people. To pass that message is really important to me. That’s why we are pushing to prove there is no human that has limitation.”