By Victoria Allen Science Correspondent For The Daily Mail
Published: 20:00 GMT, 26 February 2019 | Updated: 20:00 GMT, 26 February 2019
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It is the record that professional runners dream of smashing.
But no athlete will manage to run a two-hour marathon for more than a decade, a study suggests.
A statistical analysis on the chances of a male marathon runner breaking the two-hour barrier have found it is not likely to happen until 2032.
Kenyan runner Eliud Kipchoge (pictured) set the current men's world record time of 2 hours 1 minute and 39 seconds at the Berlin Marathon last September
That is despite the hopes raised when Kenyan runner Eliud Kipchoge completed the Berlin Marathon in two hours one minute and 39 seconds last year.
The bad news for female runners is that it may never happen for them, with the same analysis suggesting two hours five minutes and 31 seconds is the top marathon speed they will ever achieve.
British runner Paula Radcliffe is yet to be beaten on her 2003 marathon record of just over two hours and 15 minutes.
Dr Simon Angus, from Monash University in Australia, analysed official male and female world record performance times since 1950 to create a computer model for how much faster marathon runners become over time.
It is accurate to within 200 seconds for previous marathon winners and, unless there is a massive breakthrough in performance clothing, technology or prize money, is believed to predict future winning
