Rosie Awori
Kenyan superstar Eliud Kipchoge established his dominance by smashing the world record by a minute and 18 seconds at Berlin Marathon on Sunday, September 16.He finished the race with a time of 2hr 01 minutes 39 seconds obliterating the world record set by fellow Kenyan Dennis Kimetto in 2014.
“I lack words to describe this day,” Kipchoge said after becoming the first person to finish a marathon in less than 2 hours and 2 minutes.
His only opponent during the 42.1 kilometer race was the clock and this time he beat it. Keino not only shattered the world record he pushed it so far out of reach for years to come.
When his pace setters dropped out at the halfway mark, instead of loosing the tempo, he embodied the true spirit of a long distance runner and powered through the race alone without once slowing down.
Kipchoge was born the last of five children on November 5, 1984, in Kapsisiywa, Nandi County. His father died when he was still young. His mother, who worked as a teacher, raised him. He enjoyed running from a young age but officially started his running career in 2002 when he took part in the junior races aged 17. At 19 he won the bronze medal in 2004 at the Athens Olympics and kept moving from there.
He maintains a brutal training regiment starting at 5 am in Eldoret, Kenya. Leading up to the marathon Kipchoge was remarkably consistent with training about 10 sessions a week, and 170 to 190km a week. It is this consistency that he can credit to his win.
