Eliud Kipchoge on Sunday finished first in Berlin Marathon today after 2 hours 1 minute 9 seconds, 30 seconds faster than the old record set by himself at marathon tournament in 2018.
The 37-year-old Kenyan said he’s excited after finishing first with a world record at the Berlin Marathon.
“I won’t run sub2 in Berlin this time. Being 1 second faster at the Berlin Marathon is a great achievement. Berlin gives me a chance to push my limits” Kipchoge said.
“My legs were running actually very fast. I thought, let me just try to run two hours flat, but all in all, I am happy with the performance.
“We went too fast [in the first half]. It takes energy from the muscles. There’s still more in my legs [to possibly lower the record again].” he added.
Kipchoge completed all three of his goals, but his achievement was even greater than he had predicted.
He used to run sub2 with a record of 1 hour 59 minutes 40 seconds within the framework of the INEOS 1:59 event in Vienna Austria in October 2019. But the achievement was not recognizsed as a world record, as he competed under controlled ambient conditions.
The win also helped Kipchoge catch up with Ethiopian legend Haile Gebrselassie with four times Berlin Marathon champion.
Kipchoge record holder was crowned at the Brandenburg Gate in 2015, 2017, 2018 and 2022, while Gebrselassie held the title for four consecutive years, from 2006 to 2009.
He could have done even better playing under described favorable weather conditions in Berlin on Sunday.
Some rain from the night cooled the atmosphere, it was cloudy, there was almost no wind while the temperature was only around 13 degrees Celsius.
Kipchoge made an impressive start, backed by a group of pacers. He finished the first half of the race (21.0975km) in 59 minutes and 51 seconds. The whole parameter indicates that Kipchoge is capable of breaking world records and finishing the race in under 2 hours.
