Every time Eliud Kipchoge stands at the start line of a marathon, two questions come to mind.
At what point in the race will Kipchoge, who before Sunday had won 14 of the 16 official marathons he competed in, leave the rest of the field in the battle for second place? And are the conditions such that he could break his own world record again?
On a sunny morning in Berlin, Kipchoge, a 37-year-old Kenyan, answered both questions clearly and won the Berlin marathon for the fourth time in 2 hours 1 minute 9 seconds, a world record.
The world record he broke was his own – 2:01:39 – set at this course four years ago.
The field went out at a fast pace, with Kipchoge joined by five runners who completed a 10-kilometer split in 28 minutes and 22 seconds, a marathon pace of under two hours.
Halfway the group had shrunk. Only Andamlak Belihu of Ethiopia was with Kipchoge as they reached halftime in 59:51, an incredible half marathon split in their own right. That was the plan, Kipchoge said.
The race was delayed by about 25 kilometers, or about 15.5 miles, when the pacers went off course and Belihu fell behind Kipchoge. The pace slowed, at least by Kipchoge’s standards, but was still well within world record territory.
When Kipchoge crossed the finish line at the Brandenburg Gate, the result was clear: the world record would be broken by about 30 seconds. He slammed his chest as he crossed the line and almost seemed to surprise himself as he ran into the arms of his longtime coach Patrick Sang. Kipchoge looked at his watch as if to confirm everything.
Second place was a few minutes behind, with Kenya’s Mark Korir finishing in 2:05:58. Tadu Abate of Ethiopia was third in 2:06:28 and Belihu was fourth.
Kipchoge is unsurpassed at distance and now has 15 marathon wins to his name.
In 2019, he became the first person to run a sub-two-hour marathon in Vienna, although his time of 1:59:40 was not recognized as a record because he was running on a controlled course with professional pacemakers. Last year he added an Olympic gold medal to his collection after a comfortable win at the Tokyo Games, becoming only the third man to win back-to-back gold medals at the event.
He has no intention of slowing down. He wants to defend his Olympic title at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
“There’s more in my legs,” said Kipchoge after the race.
On Sunday, the women’s race, Tigist Assefa shocked the field by running away with the win in 2:15:38, breaking the course record by almost three minutes. Time ranks 28-year-old Ethiopian Assefa as the third-fastest marathon runner of all time.
Assefa, a former 800-meter runner who competed in the 2016 Olympics, has just run one more marathon. She made her distance debut in March at the Riyadh Marathon in Saudi Arabia, where she ran 2:34:01 and placed seventh.
Rosemary Wanjiru of Kenya finished second on Sunday with a time of 2:18:00, a remarkably fast debut marathon time. Third was Tigist Abayechew of Ethiopia with a time of 2:18:03.
Keira D’Amato, who started the Berlin Marathon as No. 1 after setting the American women’s record of 2:19:12 at the Houston Marathon in January, finished sixth with a time of 2:21:48 .
She came into the race as something of a hero for the everyday runner and a notable favorite in a field where rarely does an American top the seeded lists.
The 37-year-old mother of two left the sport in 2009 and returned in 2017 to run a marathon with her husband for fun. Since then, she’s beat her 5K time by a minute, set an American 10-mile record and signed a sponsorship deal with Nike.
“I’m just having fun,” she said in an interview at the Brandenburg Gate on Friday. She took a picture with Kipchoge and gave him bunny ears.
“I feel like I have nothing to lose because win or lose, I’ll go home and my kids will ask what’s for dinner.”
Both Kipchoge, a father of three, and D’Amato will go home to proud children.