Kenyan marathoner Eliud Kipchoge has cemented his Legacy as the greatest marathon runner in the modern era after setting a new World Marathon record, the only achievement that had eluded him.
Already a winner of his past eight marathons, including a 2016 Olympic gold and three London victories, the only thing that eluded Kipchoge was Dennis Kimetto’s 2014 World record of 2:02:57.
The 33-year-old produced an astonishing run at the 2018 BMW Berlin Marathon to break the World record by an impressive 78 seconds, the first time the WR has been lowered by more than a minute in 39 years and the single greatest improvement in 51 years.
The Kenyan legend started off with pace, shaking off his biggest opponent Wilson Kipsang to make it a one-man race. By the 18 km mark, Kipchoge was already pushing the pace-makers to their limit and it was clear his only opponent would be the clock.
He blazed his way to the finish line in 2 hours, one minute and 39 seconds, cutting his personal best by over a minute to break the 15-year record mark set by fellow Kenyan Dennis Kimetto in 2014.
“I lack words to describe this day,” said the 2016 Olympic Gold World winner after the race.
[perfectpullquote align=”full” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””] “I had a great belief that I could achieve this feat and running a sub 2 hours 2 minutes was simply amazing and I believe I can still go below that with such good conditions.” [/perfectpullquote]
“I could have posted better if I went with the pacesetters up to the 30 km mark. The last pacesetter went out at the 25 km mark, but it still inspired me to continue pushing alone.”
“Berlin forever. I shall come back here next year,” he added after promising to defend his world record with a new and better mark next year.
The 33-year-old’s achievement was all the more remarkable given he had to run the last 17 km without a pacesetter after he dropped out early.
Kipchoge had already won twice in Berlin and was a clear favorite to win the race but no one expected him to raise the bar by such a margin. According to the IAAF, his time is the largest improvement on the marathon record since Derek Clayton cut two minutes and 23 seconds in 1967.
Fellow Kenyans dominated the race securing a 1-2-3 finish with Amon Kipruto and Wilson Kipsang finishing five minutes later at 2:06:23 and 2:06:48 respectively.
The winner goes back home with a cash prize of £70,00 for winning the race, an extra £ 50,000 for setting a new World record and a brand new Isuzu D Max from Kenya’s marathon partners Isuzu East Africa.
In the female Marathon, another Kenyan Gladys Cherono claimed the victory running an impressive 2:18:11, to beat two Ethiopians, Ruti Aga (2:18:34) and Tirunesh Dibaba (2:18:55).
It was the first time in the history of racing that all the top three women finished below the 2:19 mark.
(Getty Images)
