Kelvin Kiptum sets marathon record: Born to push boundaries.
Young Kelvin Kiptum surpassed the marathon record set last year in Berlin by his compatriot Kipchoge, in his third attempt at the 42.195 km race.
New world record
Last Sunday (local time), on a clear and sunny morning, with temperatures below 10 degrees Celsius on the major avenues beside the lake and calm winds in Chicago (USA), the 23-year-old ran 42.195 km in 2 hours and 35 seconds.
Before Kiptum completed his latest race, no time had gone below 2 hours and 1 minute.
No one has come close to the two-hour mark in an official marathon, not even Eliud Kipchoge (38 years old), the greatest marathon runner in history, a two-time Olympic champion (2016 and 2021), who also broke the world record twice: 2 hours 1 minute 39 seconds in 2018, and 2 hours 1 minute 9 seconds just 13 months ago. Both records were set in Berlin (Germany).
Only Kipchoge, with a professional team behind him and aerodynamic support equipment outside the permitted categories of the International Athletics Federation (IAAF), has so far managed to run under two hours (1 hour 59 minutes 40 seconds; in 2019 in Austria, with a pacemaker and water supply via bicycle), but this has not yet been recognized as a record.
"The culture of marathon running and other sports"sportEndurance has changed."This was explained by marathon coach Juan del Campo (Spain) a few months ago."
Del Campo clarified further:"It used to be thought that only veteran athletes, like Kipchoge, who had matured on the track and had extensive experience, could succeed in the marathon, that such a distance was too challenging for young people."
And only those who lose the necessary speed on the short course are allowed to participate in the marathon. But physiologically, nothing prevents young people aged 19 or 20 from running a marathon at a speed of under 3 minutes/km. They run very fast."
Challenging the limits of humanity.
Everything was surprising. However, in Kiptum, a Kenyan – from Chepkorio, not far from Kipchoge's Kaptagat – only competed in three marathons in his life. He won all three.
On all three occasions, he left fans speechless with expressions of astonishment and disbelief.
The first time, in Valencia (Spain), was in 2 hours 1 minute and 53 seconds, the third best time in history at the time. The second time, in London, in April, was 2 hours 1 minute and 25 seconds, just 16 seconds short of Kipchoge's record.
Now, in Chicago, another major tournament in the world athletics system, he broke the record.
The question is no longer whether someone can run a marathon in under two hours, but when that goal will be achieved. It's not too late!
Kiptum confided:"I had a stopwatch in front of me and I said to myself, 'Come on, try it, maybe I can even run under two hours,' but unfortunately I couldn't do it.".
A day before the competition, at a press conference, Kiptum stated that he was unable to train properly due to a groin injury, as the monsoon season in Kenya was very intense and his training route was very muddy.
"But I'm very happy. I didn't intend to break the record in Chicago, but I know that one day I will.""That's it," he emphasized. And he succeeded spectacularly.
From Valencia to London, Kiptum brought his personal touch to the race, characterized by negative splitting (running the second half of the marathon faster than the first), along with excellent acceleration between the 30 and 40 km mark. In Chicago, he further refined this technique.
Kelvin completed the first half in 60 minutes and 48 seconds (37 seconds faster than in London), and the second half in 59 minutes and 47 seconds (only 2 seconds slower than in the British capital). No one, not even Kipchoge, could finish the second half in under an hour.
He covered the 10,000m from kilometer 30 to 40 in 27 minutes and 52 seconds (13 minutes and 49 seconds for the 5,000m from kilometer 30 to 35, with no sign of tension on his face as he accelerated towards the record).
Kiptum crossed the finish line almost like a bouncing child clinging to the arms of race director Carey Pinkowski, who happily embraced him, turning as if he had walked all morning, continuing to run around the other competitors who had just arrived exhausted. Benson Kipruto, who finished second, crossed the finish line nearly three and a half minutes later (2 hours 4 minutes 2 seconds).
