British astronaut Tim Peake to run a marathon in space

British astronaut Tim Peake is to attempt a space race of his own — by running the London Marathon while orbiting the Earth.

He is aiming to run 26.2 miles on a treadmill aboard the International Space Station.

Peake will make his marathon effort on Sunday, April 24, at the same time more than 37,000 runners set off in the race from Greenwich.

To combat weightlessness, the astronaut — who will be raising money for The Prince’s Trust — will wear a harness securing him to the treadmill.

Peake ran the London Marathon in 1999, completing it in 3 hours 18 minutes. But due to the extreme conditions on the ISS, he is not expecting to beat that time next year.

The astronaut, the first Briton chosen by the European Space Agency for an ISS mission, said: “The London Marathon is a worldwide event so I thought, ‘Let’s take it out of this world’.

“I’ll be running it with an iPad and watching myself running through the streets of London while orbiting the Earth at 250 miles above the surface and going at 17,000 miles per hour.

“One of the biggest challenges I’ll be facing is the harness system. In microgravity I would float if I didn’t strap myself down to the treadmill so I have to wear a harness system that’s a bit similar to a rucksack.

“That has to provide quite a bit of down force to get my body on to the treadmill, so after about 40 minutes it gets very uncomfortable.”

Peake is running with the help of the Digital Virgin Money London Marathon. The technology, developed with RunSocial, allows runners to have an avatar of themselves and make their way around the course while running on a treadmill.

The special avatar created for Peake shows the astronaut running in his ESA flight suit. Hugh Brasher, event director of the Virgin Money London Marathon, said: “Tim’s mission will undoubtedly inspire a generation of children to explore science and space.

“We hope that this extraordinary marathon run in space will also inspire thousands to run.”

Peake’s ISS mission launches from Baikonur, Kazakhstan, on December 15. He is due to return to Earth on June 5.

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