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Kelvin Kiptum sets new marathon world record in Chicago

October 8, 2023

Kenyan runner Kelvin Kiptum has shaved more than 30 seconds off the men's marathon world record in Chicago. He claims the accolade from his countryman Eliud Kipchoge, who set the previous record in Berlin.

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Kenya's Kelvin Kiptum poses next to the clock marking his time after winning the 2023 Bank of America Chicago Marathon
Kiptum said after the race that 'a world record was not in my mind today,' on learning he'd become the first person ever to complete the distance in less than 121 minutesImage: KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI/AFP/Getty Images

It's not quite as round a number as the 2-hour barrier, but Kelvin Kiptum became the first ever runner to complete a marathon in less than 2 hours and 1 minute in Chicago on Sunday, setting a new marathon world record. 

The Kenyan athlete shaved more than 30 seconds off the previous record, set by Olympic champion Eliud Kipchoge — also from Kenya — at last year's Berlin Marathon. 

Faster in the second half than the first

Kiptum, who also shattered the course record at the London Marathon earlier this year, said after the race that he had not started the run with the world record time in mind. He did however realize he was close to the required pace to break it in the latter stages of the race. 

"I feel so happy. I wasn't prepared," Kiptum said. "A world record was not in my mind today." 

Kenya's Kelvin Kiptum celebrqtes winning the 2023 Bank of America Chicago Marathon in Chicago, Illinois, in a world record time of two hours and 35 seconds on October 8, 2023.
Kiptum's record was all the more impressive given that it was not set on the Berlin Marathon course, known as one of the most favorable routes to go for a fast timeImage: KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI/AFP/Getty Images

Kiptum nevertheless reacted on seeing that he was almost on pace to break the record at around the three-quarters distance mark. He quickened his pace in the closing phases, running the second half of the marathon more than a minute faster than he had completed the first half, despite the increasing fatigue. 

Kiptum finished the Chicago Marathon almost 3.5 minutes clear of the next runner, his Kenyan compatriot Benson Kipruto. Belgian Bashir Abdi finished third. 

Rare marathon record set outside Berlin

It's the first marathon world record set in years on any course other than Berlin's. The city streets and the course around German capital are notoriously flat and kind on endurance runners, and the September weather tends to offer an ideal mixture of cool temperatures and low winds.

The race organizers, proud of its record-breaking tradition, also try to ensure that several strong runners act as so-called "rabbits," intentionally setting what for them is an unsustainably fast pace early in the race, pulling the real contenders along in their wake. 

Kipchoge's latest record hailed from Berlin's 2022 marathon, and the one before that from the 2018 race. And in September this year, Ethiopia's Tigst Assefa set a new women's world marathon record in Germany. 

In all, until Kiptum bucked the trend on Sunday, the last eight marathon world records had been set in Berlin.

msh/lo (AFP, dpa, Reuters)