Kipchoge Eyes a Course Record at Boston Marathon on Sunday
Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge will be targeting the course record when he makes his Boston Marathon debut on April 17th.
Winning Boston would put the 38-year-old two-time Olympic marathon champion at five out of six titles in the World Marathon Majors (WMMs) series, leaving only New York to be conquered.
Kipchoge, who is the world marathon record holder, said his aim is to smash the Boston course record of 2:03:02 set by his compatriot Geoffrey Mutai in 2011.
“I just don’t want to participate in the six World Marathon Majors…I want to participate and win all six,” he said in a past interview.
Ultimately, he says he wants to set new course records for all the WMMs, having already won and set course records in London (2:02:37, 2019), Berlin (2:01:09, 2022), and Tokyo (2:02:40, 2022).
Kipchoge set a new marathon world record of 2:10:09 at the 2022 Berlin Marathon, breaking his own record by 30 seconds.
In October 2019, he became (unofficially) the first man to ever run a sub-two-hour marathon at the INEOS 1:59 Challenge in Vienna, Austria, where he sailed under in 1:59:40.
In preparation for the upcoming Boston race, his team has designed a replica uphill route where he trains in Kaptagat.
“This is the right time to train on the course which we have nicknamed ‘Boston’ here in Kenya. It’s an uphill and tough course over 40 kilometers,” he said.
He is expected to face off with defending champion Evans Chebet, the 2021 winner Benson Kipruto, and Ethiopian Lelisa Desisa, who won it in 2013 and 2015.
Kipchoge has won 15 of the 17 official marathons he has raced, making him arguably the world’s greatest marathoner of all time.
Comments (3)
No Human is limited. Go Kipchoge!
Change title please - Boston Marathon is always run on a Monday.
Why would title change make any difference? Whether the race is run Monday,Friday,or any other day of the week,it still a 26 mile race.I dont see the relevance between racing day,and the race's name.Could you enlighten me please.
Anyway, My hope is that none of the 18 Kenyans in the race would be found to have doped down the road. Some of us still vividly remember Diana Kipyokei winning the women's race in 2021 and having her title stripped for doping. Unforunately this stain negatively affects clean runners like Kipchoge- by "association".With Kenya leading the world in the doping department who would blame those with suspicious minds? That said,I wish success for team Kenya.Go fly our flag high as usual.