A British astronaut is set to become the first man to run a marathon in space.
Tim Peake will become the first person to run the long-distance event beyond Earth when he takes on the 42km on a treadmill on the International Space Station at the same time as the London Marathon in April.
He is due to blast off from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on December 15 and will stay in space for 173 days until June 5 next year.
Taking on the challenge, he will be attached to the treadmill by a harness in order to combat weightlessness and will be watching a video of the London course on a big screen.
"The London Marathon is a worldwide event. Let's take it out of this world," Peake said on Friday.
"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 above the surface and going 27,000km 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."
A seasoned runner, Peake completed the London Marathon in 1999 in three hours and 18 minutes but he does not expect to beat that time.
"I don't think I'll be setting any personal bests," he said. "I've set myself a goal of anywhere between 3:30 to 4 hours."
Peake, who is running to raise awareness for The Prince's Trust, is the first Briton to be selected by the European Space Agency for a mission to the ISS.
