Athletics: Berlin relay takes on Kipchoge record in place of cancelled marathon

Athletics - German relay runners run the Berlin Marathon distance around the Berlin Victory Column as organisers host the 2:01:39 challenge - Berlin, Germany - September 27, 2020 Germany's Philipp Pflieger, Florian Orth, Johannes Motschmann and Richard Ringer celebrate as they finish the run and break the 2:01:39 time REUTERS/Annegret Hilse

Organisers of the Berlin Marathon held a relay race around the city's famous victory column on Sunday aiming to match or beat Eliud Kipchoge's 2018 world record after the coronavirus pandemic forced this year's event to be abandoned.

Four runners, Philipp Pflieger, Richard Ringer, Florian Orth and Johannes Motschmann did 105 laps between them in the 2:01:39 Challenge, completing the marathon distance in 2 hours 1 minute 34 seconds.

Their combined time was 5 seconds quicker than the time set by Kenya's Kipchoge in Berlin in 2018.

Athletics - German relay runners run the Berlin Marathon distance around the Berlin Victory Column as organisers host the 2:01:39 challenge - Berlin, Germany - September 27, 2020 Germany's Philipp Pflieger, Florian Orth, Johannes Motschmann and Richard Ringer in action REUTERS/Annegret Hilse

(Reporting by Edward Taylor; Editing by Ian Chadband and Alison Williams)

Athletics - German relay runners run the Berlin Marathon distance around the Berlin Victory Column as organisers host the 2:01:39 challenge - Berlin, Germany - September 27, 2020 Germany's Philipp Pflieger, Florian Orth, Johannes Motschmann and Richard Ringer as they finish the run and break the 2:01:39 time REUTERS/Annegret Hilse