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Eliud Kipchoge ran one of the most beautiful and impressive marathons in history.
The greatest marathoner of all time can now be said to be the fastest of all time. Eliud Kipchoge, 2016 Olympic champion in Kenya, broke the marathon world record on Sunday morning with a 2:01:39 victory at the Berlin Marathon.
"I firmly believed that I could record a world record," Kipchoge said on television. "But I did not know that I would run 2:01. I did not know that what I thought translated at 2:01 but I'm happy for that.
Before the race, Kipchoge was more reserved about his expectations and told reporters that he was simply aiming to lower his personal best time of 2:03:05. It was not necessarily Dennis Kimetto's world record of 2:02:57, which was set on the same course in 2014. The world record is no stranger to Berlin because he was placed in this race at last six times. been lowered before Sunday.
Kipchoge revealed that he planned to cross the half marathon mark in 61 minutes. Former world record holder Wilson Kipsang of Kenya was considered Kipchoge's biggest challenger and chose to stay with his own crew to run 61:30 during the half-time. The hope was that a cautious start would be profitable, if Kipchoge jumped the aggressive pace. This has never happened.
Kipchoge, 33, and a team of three pacers took off and crossed the first 5 km in 14:24 and 10 km in 29:21. Just after the mark of 15K, the pacers began to fall. Kipchoge was left with Josphat Boit, who has a personal best of 59:19 for the half marathon, his only rabbit. Drinks took him halfway through 61:06 but then dropped 25K.
"It was not the plan because I thought I would go with my first pacemaker for 30 kilometers," Kipchoge said. "It was unfortunate but I had to believe it."
Kipchoge had to run the last 17 kilometers and keep the time that he had accumulated to break the world record. That was a stark contrast to Kipchoge's run when Nike Breaking2 attempted in May 2016. While trying to break the two-hour marathon barrier, Nike devised a plan for Kipchoge under optimal conditions where the Temperatures were almost perfect for the Monza track, Italy and it could be attended by alternating punches almost every step of the way. Kipchoge ended up running 2:00:25 but the weather is not world record because of the changes in the stimulation strategy.
Once alone on Sunday, Kipchoge finally accelerated. He reached the 35K mark in 1:41:02 and started to get closer to the 2:02 barrier. As he did in his other big wins, Kipchoge smiled through all the signs of pain by the time he reached 40K in 1:55:32. His second half would end in 60:33.
What was different at Kipchoge by the gates of Brandenburg and approaching the finish line was his excitement. Usually stoic and reserved, he took his weapons and crossed the finish line in 2:01:40 to cut one minute and 17 seconds off the Kimetto record. According to the IAAF, this is the biggest improvement in the marathon record since Derek Clayton eliminated two minutes and 23 seconds of the world record in 1967.
Kipchoge did not stop running at the finish line but accelerated. He raised his arms on his head in disbelief and then jumped into the arms of his longtime coach, Patrick Sang. The celebration continued with Kipchoge taking photos and kissing the fans as the next runner crossed the finish line four minutes and 44 seconds later.
"I ran 2:00. I ran 2:01. The next is to run 2:02 so I have 2:00, 2:01, 2:02, 2:03, 2:04 and 2:05, "joked Kipchoge after the race.
Kenyans swept the men's and women's titles as Gladys Cherono became the fourth fastest woman in history and defended her title with a record-breaking 2:18:11 victory. Ruti Aga (2:18:34) and Tirunesh Dibaba (2:18:55) completed the women's podium, marking the first time in history that three women fell below 2:19.
Below, the complete separations of Kipchoge from his world record:
5K – 14:24
10K – 29:01 (14:37)
15K – 43:38 (14:37)
20K – 57:56 (14:18)
HALF MARATHON – 1:01:06
25K – 1:12:24 (14:28)
30K – 1:26:45 (14:21)
35K – 1:41:01 (14:16)
40K – 1:55:32 (14:31)
FINISHING – 2:01:39
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