Kenyan great, Eliud Kipchoge, set to race Berlin again

September 20, 2022

Eliud Kipchoge, two-time and defending Olympic champion in the marathon from Rio and Tokyo, and world-record holder with his best of 2:01:39 is set to race Berlin on Sunday.

He is the first person to (time trial) run the certified distance of 42.195 kilometres under two hours. Although the performance does not stand as a world record, he is the only one to do it. He ran 1:59:40 in Vienna on Oct. 12, 2019.

Kipchoge is incredibly consistent. His two Olympic marathon gold medals from Rio and Tokyo, five years apart, were run in 2:08:44 and 2:08:38, respectively. Both in plus 30C temperatures.

The Kapsisiywa, Nandi County native won 17 of the 19 official marathons that he has entered. He finished second in Berlin in 2013. The now 37-year-old had an unusually rough go in London 2020 due to inclement weather, finishing eighth in the time of 2:06:49. On March 6 this year, he clocked a 2:02:40 in Tokyo for the win. For anyone concerned about his ability to compete in his late 30s the Tokyo Olympic win in Sapporo and the 2021 Tokyo win put all fears to rest.

Kipchoge has run sub-2:04:00 five times. His slowest time — again in the heat — is 2:08:44. Nine of his Marathon Majors wins are sub-2:05 performances. His 2013 second place finish was 2:04:05. Only his 2020 London effort was a so-called blemish on his otherwise outstanding athletics career at 2:06:49, but more for placing eighth than the finish time considering the wind, rain and cold temperatures that were present on the day.

Kipchoge holds three of the four fastest times in history. Only Kenenisa Bekele has come close with his 2:01:41 from Berlin 2019 for the second-fastest performance all-time.

Berlin is the site of 12 of the 29 fastest men’s marathons in history. Seven men’s national records are currently held from Berlin performances including Kenya, Ethiopia, Angola, Georgia, Greece, Iceland, and Hong Kong.

Kipchoge (as will the women) stands to earn 30,000 euros for the win, if he run sub-2:02:30 or 15,000 for the win sub-2:03:30 (women: 2:17:30 and 2:19:00, respectively). There is little doubt that Kipchoge is being paid a handsome appearance fee.