For most runners, simply getting across the distance is enough. Eliud Kipchoge, Lelisa Desisa and Zersenay Tadese, the athletes involved in Nike’s Breaking2 moonshot, have a more audacious aim: breaking the two-hour barrier, a holy grail for running.

Roaring engines and hustling pit crews rarely enter the marathon vision. However, grand ambition requires unconventional thinking. Thus, in service of Kipchoge, Desisa and Tadese’s attempt, the diverse Breaking2 team shifted locational focus from the traditional city-based course to an icon of speed, an auto racing track.

Determining the ideal race location necessitates a unique set of environmental characteristics, with consideration of altitude, temperature and vapor pressure at the tip of the iceberg. The goal is singular: optimize conditions.

After scouring the world to find the most suitable site, the Breaking2 team landed on a fixed 2.4km loop at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza complex outside Milan, Italy.