You are perhaps a bit unfamiliar with long distance running. Team work can be a part of long-distance running. Pacers can help with the mental effort required to run at a particular pace; they can shield the runner from the adverse effects of wind during a race; they even help with the time keeping and dealing with crowds of spectators impinging on the course. Should be pacers be a part of marathon racing? Perhaps not, but right now they are. [1]
Generally male pacers will be able to keep up for only part of the race with the very leader but in the case of some women's records very fast male pacers are able to run the entire race. Eliud Kipchoge runs so fast that he used a number of fresh pacers for this particular effort.
Marathon's are run outdoors and not on engineered tracks so there are many external factors affecting the race times. Sun, wind, temperature, crowd enthusiasm, road condition, elevation changes, course layout, crowding at support tables, the provided water, water cups, electrolyte drinks, and food (gummy bears, high carb gels, etc.) all have an effect. Even the width of the road, the number of runners and their staging at the start have an impact. The fact that Eliud Kipchoge broke 2 hours is an important achievement and to me indicative of what we can expect in the future. Some official race will have just the right set of circumstances (good weather, perfect course, no stay pebble in his shoe, etc.) and 2 hours will be achieved. It's just a artificial benchmark (even the distance is completely arbitrary [2]), but it's one people have wondered about for a long time.
> Eliud Kipchoge runs so fast that he used a number of fresh pacers for this particular effort
And of course the pacers are also among the fastest runners in the world. (Here's a list: https://live.ineos159challenge.com/pacemakers - if you follow running you may recognise many of them)
This may be an artificial setup and in part a marketing gimmick, but it's also an impressive team activity as well as an individual success.
Well, my point is more abstract, namely that "real marathon" is a fiction, so the precise rules is the only thing we got, and according to these rules it is not a world record.
Generally male pacers will be able to keep up for only part of the race with the very leader but in the case of some women's records very fast male pacers are able to run the entire race. Eliud Kipchoge runs so fast that he used a number of fresh pacers for this particular effort.
Marathon's are run outdoors and not on engineered tracks so there are many external factors affecting the race times. Sun, wind, temperature, crowd enthusiasm, road condition, elevation changes, course layout, crowding at support tables, the provided water, water cups, electrolyte drinks, and food (gummy bears, high carb gels, etc.) all have an effect. Even the width of the road, the number of runners and their staging at the start have an impact. The fact that Eliud Kipchoge broke 2 hours is an important achievement and to me indicative of what we can expect in the future. Some official race will have just the right set of circumstances (good weather, perfect course, no stay pebble in his shoe, etc.) and 2 hours will be achieved. It's just a artificial benchmark (even the distance is completely arbitrary [2]), but it's one people have wondered about for a long time.
[1] https://www.outsideonline.com/2278831/pacers-are-ruining-mar...
[2] https://www.history.com/news/why-is-a-marathon-26-2-miles