Though Eliud Kipchoge is the greatest marathoner in history, the Olympic champion doesn’t hold the world record. But that could change on Sunday at the Berlin Marathon.
Only eight seconds separate Kipchoge’s personal best with the world record. And while Kipchoge is hesitant to talk about making history, he’ll have a good shot
“Training has been going well,” Kipchoge told SI.com. “This year, I’m not talking about the world record but I’m thinking about a personal best. There’s not much that is different of what I am doing. Still with the same program. Still the same coach. Still the same training area.”
This @EliudKipchoge hype video ahead of the Berlin Marathon by @NNRunningTeam is awesome.
Full video here: https://t.co/iVPUkGqg28 pic.twitter.com/VsT3ub4TjJ
— Chris Chavez (@ChrisChavez) September 13, 2018
Since 2014, the marathon world record of 2:02:57 has belonged to his compatriot Dennis Kimetto. While Kimetto’s performance declined since that run, Kipchoge established himself as the best and finished 2015 and 2017 as the fastest in the world. His personal best of 2:03:05 was set in his win at the 2016 London Marathon, which would’ve been the fastest time of that year had longtime rival Kenenisa Bekele not run two seconds faster in Berlin that fall. Kipchoge opted to win gold at the 2016 Olympics in Rio instead of a fall marathon in 2016 and then bypassed the spring marathon season to participate in Nike’s Breaking2 attempt at shattering the sub-two hour marathon barrier. Kipchoge ended up running 2:00:25—the fastest someone has ever run 26.2 miles. But due to the use of alternating pacers and fueling strategy, the Breaking2 attempt wasn’t eligible for the world record.
At 33 years old, Kipchoge hasn’t shown any signs of letting up. Last September, he attempted to break the world record in Berlin, but wet conditions slowed his pace, though he still won the race in 2:03:32. Unusually warm conditions for this year’s London Marathon in April didn’t slow Kipchoge from running 61:00 for the first half, but he couldn’t maintain his pace down the stretch. Kipchoge won by 32 seconds, finishing in 2:04:17.
“Eliud is in good shape, but he has been in good shape before,” his agent Valentijn Trouw told LetsRun.com. “Of course, he wants to go out fast and go for a fast time, but it depends on the conditions on the day of the race. It will be the conditions on the day that will decide how the race will go.”