London Marathon 2019: What next for Eliud Kipchoge after Kenyan set yet more records over 26.2 miles?
Blink and you’ll miss him.
Thousands of people packed the streets of London to soak up the marathon atmosphere, watch the elite athletes and cheer on friends, but the man who completed the 26.2 miles in the fastest time didn’t stick around for long to revel in the adulation.
That’s because Eliud Kipchoge was busy travelling around 13mph, averaging approximately four minutes and 40 seconds per mile to complete the London Marathon in a course-record time of two hours, two minutes and 38 seconds and beat his own record by 28 seconds.
It is the second-fastest marathon time in history – after, you guessed it, Kipchoge’s own world record of 2:01:39, set in Berlin in September – and gives him another record of four victories in London.
Amazingly the win was the Kenyan’s 11th from the 12 marathons he’s run since switching from track to road running in 2013. Naturally he finished second in the other, at Berlin in 2013.
Monastic lifestyle
Kipchoge is an unassuming star and far from a household name. The world’s greatest ever marathon runner spends nearly 300 days per year living a monastic lifestyle away from his family in the tiny Kenyan village of Kaptagat. There he mucks in alongside his training partners, cleaning toilets and sweeping floors in between running sessions which see him cover 118 to 130 miles per week.
“I enjoy the simplistic training and life in marathon,” Kipchoge told the BBC of his philosophy. “You run, eat, sleep, walk around – that’s how life is. You don’t get complicated. The moment you get complicated it distracts your mind.”
Kipchoge broke his own course record by 28 seconds (Source: Getty)
But while his physical fitness is the most crucial aspect to his success, Kipchoge is also keen to stress the importance of the mental side of running and competing.
“If you want to break through, your mind should be able to control your body,” the 34-year-old told Runners World recently. “Your mind should be a part of your fitness.”
Two-hour challenge
With another victory and another few records to reflect on the question is what next for Kipchoge? He gave nothing away post-race.
“I do not chase two rabbits – I only chase one and that was London,” he said. “I have caught that rabbit so I will discuss with my team what follows.”
One thing is for sure: whichever start-line he does venture to next, he will once again be the man to beat. Sir Mo Farah, who finished fifth in a time of 2:05:39, summed up the mood of the other runners.
“He is a very special athlete and he is humble,” he said. “If Eliud can run those sort of times it just gives us another level of possibility.”
Kipchoge used pacemakers and high-tech trainers to run 2:00:25 in 2017 (Source: Getty)
With a talent like Kipchoge pushing the boundaries and the addition of Nike’s Zoom Vaporfly Elite trainers, which contain a cutting-edge carbon spring mechanism, it’s an exciting time for distance running. Times are only going to get faster – but how fast?
“One day, one time, someone will run under two hours,” Kipchoge said recently. Having himself run 2:00:25 during Nike’s pioneering Breaking2 project in May 2017, which used pacemakers and Monza’s Grand Prix circuit to generate perfect conditions, you wouldn’t certainly bet against it.
To be recognised as a world record, times need to be set in normal conditions. Therefore if Kipchoge or anyone else is to go under the two-hour mark Berlin is the most likely setting.
The city has played host to seven world records in the last 15 years, with the bar continually being lowered. With another London medal in the bag, the German capital could well be the next staging post on Kipchoge’s remarkable career.