Kenya: Marathon Giant Kipchoge Eyeing Monstrous Run in Berlin As He Ups Preparations

31 August 2022
Capital FM (Nairobi)
By Omondi Onyatta

Nairobi — World marathon record holder Eliud Kipchoge says he will push himself to the limit to produce another stunning performance at the Berlin Marathon.

Kipchoge returns on September 25 to the same city where he set a new world record of 2:01:39 in the men's 42km road race in 2018.

The two-time Olympic marathon champion believes even a little bit improvement in his race will count as a success for him.

"I am going to Berlin to try and push it a little bit... where it is, because I don't know it until I actually start. Even if I push for one second that is a huge success. My preparations are going on well. I am concentrating on doing long runs, endurance speed work, endurance speed runs and tempo runs, which is I think is going on very well," Kipchoge said.

The world's fastest marathoner will be facing off against defending champion Guye Adola of Ethiopia, who clinched the title last year after defeating countryman, Kenenisa Bekele and Kenyan Bethwell Yegon.

Kipchoge and Adola have previously come up against each other in the German capital when the former edged ahead of the fierce competition to take bragging rights in 2017.

Despite the expected rekindling of rivalry between the two, Kipchoge believes the Berlin course is the perfect for any athlete to showcase their prowess on the road.

"When I am thinking of Berlin, I am thinking of a flat course. I am thinking of the fastest course in the world. I am thinking that it is the only place whereby a human being can show his or her own potential of pushing the limits," Kipchoge, who is the only person to run a marathon under two hours, said.

Berlin will be his second race this year after a regular day in the office at the Tokyo Marathon in March during which he timed 2:02:40 to set the fastest time on Japanese soil.

Reflecting on that win, he described it as one he savours to date.

"Tokyo (marathon) was good although Covid was there and there were protocols from the Ministry of Health... we respect the protocols. We have been there and performed well as a team and as an individual so it was good for me to go back and run for them," Kipchoge, who won his second Olympic marathon gold in Tokyo last August, said.

A win for Kipchoge in Berlin would be his fourth crown in this World Marathon Majors race, having emerged victorious in 2015, 2017 and 2018.

Read the original article on Capital FM.

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