Traveling to Ethiopia, Eritrea and Kenya, “Breaking2” chronicles three elite runners who are training tirelessly to shatter one of the biggest barriers in human endurance — the 2-hour marathon. Through the lens of the Breaking2 endeavor, we not only created an understanding of the depth of innovation behind this attempt, but we more importantly brought to life less quantifiable components — the power of the heart and the mind.

With breathtaking cinematography backed by a culturally-charged musical score, viewers quickly found themselves rooting for each runner as their unique stories and personalities came to life. And despite the story’s heartbreaking outcome of barely missing the 2-hour mark, “Breaking2” was nonetheless a win — inspiring, poignant and captivating — by illustrating that there’s triumph and glory in not just winning, but in the journey it takes to get there, a universal message that reaches far beyond the world of sports.

Bridging the Breaking2 race in May 2017 to the documentary premiere in September, we drove awareness through short-form social storytelling — teasing out the athletes’ stories, and the science and innovation that brought the entire journey to life.

On September 20, 2017, the film premiered commercial-free on our cable network at 8pm EST. It was the digital distribution, available the next day for free on 10 VOD/EST platforms, from Apple TV to XBox One, and on YouTube in 34 languages that enabled this non-fiction film to breakthrough globally with consumers.

With a consumer-first and mixed media distribution approach, we optimized engagement among audiences everywhere by leveraging digital channels in addition to traditional linear and VOD. We are still garnering 40K+ views a week on YouTube with no active marketing.

“Breaking2” was a resounding success. The documentary reached of 231MM+ across all platforms, and garnered 4MM+ mixed-media documentary views. The film is still available on YouTube, Nike.com, Facebook and NationalGeographic.com and continues to secure views.

In terms of online distribution, the film achieved an average 180K impressions per post and 360K impressions on Facebook in the days following the broadcast premiere — garnering an additional 282K views via YouTube and 245K downloads via EST.

The premiere also received extensive social promotion — driving viewership and garnering 875K impressions. Social sentiment was overwhelmly positive, with more than half the tweets during the premiere broadcast expressing “love” of the documentary.

The campaign created buzz and momentum with 43 pieces of coverage in outlets including Variety, Bloomberg and NPR — reaching a total of 963M+ online readers, and securing 761K estimated views and 8.52K social shares.

To quote “Breaking2” runner, Eliud Kipchoge, our primary goal behind partnering with Nike to produce this film was to “tell the world, no human is limited.”

With the race outcome still fresh in everyone’s mind, we were able to create something so much more impactful than a sports documentary, by telling a story that entertained audiences across the world — emotionally, intellectually and physiologically. Sports fans and non-sports fans alike found themselves personally connected and drawn to the unique and empowering stories of these remarkable heroes and their teams as they tested the limits of human potential.

Leveraging a collaborative, creative storytelling approach, we captured the power of human potential through the lens of the 2-hour marathon barrier — creating a storyline so pure that it was impossible not to care about the main characters. Through the film, audiences traveled to the runners’ home countries, met their families, and participated in their training runs.

The story took viewers deep into athletic innovation centers across the U.S., granting a better understanding of the scientific insights and technology needed to tackle this extraordinary feat, as well as onto the the dirt roads of eastern Africa, exposing tensions between scientists and athletic trainers, and the humble facilities that develop the top runners of the world.

The distribution strategy was designed to meet the consumer whenever and wherever they wanted, with digital access across VOD/EST and on YouTube in 34 languages, and broadcast airings in U.S. and Europe.

"Breaking2” is a 55-minute documentary produced by National Geographic Studios in association with Dirty Robber, and in partnership with Nike. The film tells the journey of three world-class runners as they attempt to run a marathon in under two hours. Bringing humanity and personal voice to the enormity of this moonshot moment and incredible athletic pursuit, the film highlights the selection of runners, the identification of ideal marathon conditions and the creation of a running shoe that can make it all possible — all while channeling the main characters as a source of personal inspiration.

Our objectives were to articulate the Breaking2 project in a way that captured the hearts and minds of a global audience through the lens of our hallmark storytelling prowess, and to create an inspiring all-access documentary that engaged consumers around the world to think about their very own potential.