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Brit 'naut Tim Peake will run the London Marathon – in space

ISS chap will also get 28,000km/h head start

Brit astronaut Tim Peake will participate in next year's London Marathon – albeit at an altitude of 400km and travelling at 28,800 km/h, relative to his fellow competitors.

Tim Peake, Yuri Malenchenko and Tim Kopra

Peake, along with Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko and NASA astronaut Tim Kopra, is scheduled to blast off for the International Space Station on 15 December.

Once there, he'll be conducting experiments as part of the Principia mission "to maintain the weightless research laboratory and run scientific experiments for hundreds of researchers on Earth".

At 10:00 GMT on 24 April, as things kick off on the streets of London, Peake will commence his own 42km virtual marathon while strapped into the T2 Combined Operational Load Bearing External Resistance Treadmill, aka Colbert.

He said: "The thing I'm most looking forward to is that I can still interact with everybody down on Earth. I'll be running it with the iPad and watching myself running through the streets of London whilst orbiting the Earth at 400km."

ISS residents using Colbert are, naturally, harnessed to the treadmill by an elasticated shoulder and waist strap system designed to keep their feet firmly on the belt.

Luca Parmitano uses Colbert back in 2013

European Space Agency astronaut Luca Parmitano gives Colbert a blast back in 2013

Peake explained: "That has to provide quite a bit of downforce to get my body onto the treadmill so after about 40 minutes, that gets very uncomfortable. I don’t think I’ll be setting any personal bests. I've set myself a goal of anywhere between 3:30 to 4 hours."

The 'naut previously ran the London Marathon in 1999, crossing the finishing line in 3:18.50. This time around, his efforts will be as an ambassador for the Prince's Trust.

After arriving at the orbiting outpost later this month, Peake will spend a total of six months aloft. Already waiting for him will be a couple of Raspberry Pis which blasted off yesterday aboard the Orbital ATK Cygnus spacecraft.

Raspberry Pi in its space case

Space Pi

The Pis – complete with their custom cases for space operations – will run code provided by the winners of the Astro Pi competition. ®

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