When Eliud Kipchoge crossed the finish line at the Berlin Marathon last weekend, breaking his own world record, Claus-Henning Schulke breathed a sigh of relief.
The Berlin Marathon volunteer – whom Kipchoge called his hero – had done his job perfectly.
Schulke, a 56-year-old German civil engineer, presented Kipchoge with his feeding bottles 13 times over the course of the 26.2-mile race. There was no room for error. A botched handover could mean the difference between history and disappointment, which is why Kipchoge’s team enlisted the services of the bottle-passing maestro, now known as “Bottle Claus”.
Growing up as a triathlete, Schulke began volunteering at the Berlin Marathon in 1997 as a bottle passer. Twenty-five years of bottle pass later, he has not only perfected the craft, but also leads the team of 34 volunteers who help top athletes access their diets during the Berlin race.
It is a unique high pressure reel.
Among the World Marathon Majors, a collection of the six largest marathons in the world, Berlin is the only event to offer a bottle pass service. There, too, only a handful of top pros get the service: This year, volunteers handed bottles to just 19 men and 15 women, while all other elite runners had their bottles placed on numbered tables that they grabbed on the barrel. Taking the wrong bottle is one of the many ways a nutrition plan can go wrong.
But what exactly is in those bottles? It depends on the runner.
“Every athlete has something different in the bottle,” says Scott Fauble, America’s top finisher at this year’s Boston Marathon. “Some athletes like powders that you mix with water, others like gels that they stick on the outside of their bottles. Some take caffeine, some don’t. Athletes need to figure out what fits their gut.”
Determining the right fuel can be a major hurdle for runners, elite and amateur runners alike. And missing it during a race can spell disaster.
“Fuel is a big performance limiter in marathons,” said Sara Hall, a professional runner who has the third-fastest marathon time ever for an American. “To maintain that speed, it’s crucial to get the right fuel and hydration, which you know sits well in your stomach when you’re cranking off fast paces. This is why you see some athletes fetching a bottle when they drop it. It’s worth losing those 10 seconds.”
Schulke’s partnership with Kipchoge began in 2017 when he happened to be tasked with backing the Kenyan. Kipchoge won the race, but rainy conditions frustrated his attempt to set a world record. When Kipchoge returned to racing for another try in 2018, his team asked for the same partnership.
“Before the 2018 race, I received a call from the race director saying that Eliud’s team wanted to meet me at their hotel,” Schulke recalled. They met and talked about strategy. What’s the best way to get Kipchoge noticed in a crowd of runners? How did he want his bottle held?
They looked at a table near them, where there was a vase with a tulip. “I held the vase down and he grabbed it up,” said Schulke. “It was the most efficient way to pass it.”
The practice has paid off. On this race day in 2018, Schulke completed eleven flawless bottle transfers and Kipchoge set a new world record time of 2:01:39. As clips of Kipchoge’s efforts spread across the internet, so did clips of his enthusiastic waterhandler celebrating each successful pass with emphatic double fist pumps before hopping on his bike to ride to the nearest aid station.
The day after the race, Kipchoge requested a meeting with Schulke in the lobby. He wrote a note to Schulke on the back of his race number. “Mr. Claus, thank you for helping me today,” wrote Kipchoge. “Without you, my world record would not have been possible.”
As this year’s race approached, Schulke felt the pressure. “I wasn’t just nervous the night before the race. Four weeks ago I was nervous,” he said. “I don’t want to be held responsible for anything that goes wrong or disrupts the recording. I have trouble sleeping in the days leading up to the race.”
At the five kilometer mark, or just over three miles into the race, it was time for Schulke to shine. As a group of six front runners approached at over 13 mph, Schulke in his neon pink and yellow outfit crouched down and held out his arm. “Bottle Klaus! Never before has there been so much fuss about one man giving another a drink,” said one commentator on live television.
After the bottle pass, Schulke climbed onto his bike and pedaled to his next stop five kilometers away, weaving through speed cars and camera crews. Over the next 12 refreshment stations, Kipchoge’s lead grew and so did Schulke’s fan base.
“Many spectators shouted ‘bottle man, bottle man’ when I drove past on the street,” said Schulke. With each successful handover, his punches rose higher in the air.
Schulke made his final pass at 40 kilometers, almost 25 miles through the race, and watched as Kipchoge disappeared around the corner. “I had no idea if he was going to break the record because he seemed to be losing a bit of speed,” Schulke said. For the next six minutes he stood at the last aid station and waited for the official time.
2:01:09. Thirty seconds faster than the last time Schulke handed over Kipchoge bottles in Berlin.
Mission accomplished.