His fellow athletes at his training camp call him the “boss man.” Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge proved that he truly is in charge by shaving more than a minute off his previous record marathon time. It’s impressive to shave any time off a marathon race, but especially that much.
The Guardian reported that Kipchoge completed the run at a truly impressive 2 hours, 1 minute, and 39 seconds. This was already an incredible feat because it completely obliterates the past record set by Dennis Kimetto in 2014. Kipchoge ran a full 78 seconds faster, and his achievement is even more impressive considering he ran alone for the last 10.5 miles. Typically, runners will have pacesetters keeping them company, but his dropped out. He had a lonely, fast journey to make.
What an amazing day!
I want to thank my coach Patrick Sang, my team mates, my management, Nike and NN. A special thank you to my fans for your support! pic.twitter.com/uCh2wCh3sQ
— Eliud Kipchoge – EGH?? (@EliudKipchoge) September 16, 2018
He raced through Berlin at an incredible pace that left him speechless.
“I lack words to describe this day,” Kipchoge said.
Initially, the run was going smoothly. His pacemakers were with him, he was running on a beautiful day, and he passed the 10k mark well on pace to beat the world record. Then, at the 15k mark, two of his three pacemakers had to drop out of the run. At 25k, the third had to leave as well. This left Kipchoge to complete the rest of the run alone. His new world record was on the line, and it was unclear if he could make it without his pacemakers to guide him.
However, he actually ran faster without them. He completed an astonishing 4-minute and 37-second mile and still had energy left to hug his coach, Patrick Sang. Sang has trained him for years and has served as his mentor since Kipchoge was a teenager.
Kipchoge’s time is the single largest jump in the record since Derek Clayton beat the old record by more than 2 minutes.
“It was hard,” Kipchoge said. “I am just so incredibly happy to have finally run the world record as I never stopped having belief in myself.”
While there are suspicions of doping in Kenya, Kipchoge and his coach have never been suspected of anything untoward. In fact, some might say it has been a long time coming for the remarkable runner, who first gained attention by snagging a gold medal at the 2003 world championships when he was just 18. He also won Olympic gold in Rio de Janeiro and has been victorious three times in the London marathon. It seems his legacy is here to stay for a while.