AW’s Steve Smythe takes a close look at the career of the fastest marathon runner in history

Eliud Kipchoge has only won one Olympics and has never won a world title over 26.2 miles but, whatever happens in Japan next summer, he will be regarded as the world’s greatest ever marathoner.

He is the current world record-holder thanks to the 2:01:39 he ran in Berlin last year but it was on the streets of Vienna during the INEOS 1:59 Challenge when the Kenyan well and truly inked his name into the history books.

The event might not have been record eligible and he was assisted of course by a fleet of big-name pacers and a pair of shoes which have sparked considerable debate, but after clocking 1:59:41 he will forever be known as the first man to break the two-hour barrier.

Some have suggested the floodgates will now open and his feat will be emulated by others but look at the pace he is running at and how few athletes can run 45:34 for 10 miles, let alone keep it going for another 16 miles.

Any athlete who can run 26.2 miles at that sort of pace would have to be capable of well within 58 minutes for a half-marathon and able to sustain near 4:30 miling past 20 miles. Only Kipchoge could realistically contemplate that.

He has not lost a marathon for over six years and since then has just suffered two fairly low-key losses at shorter distances.

His average for his last 10 marathons is 2:03:42.8 but including Vienna and the Breaking 2 attempt in Monza two years ago (when he ran 2:00:25) it is a staggering 2:02:45.2.

The average of his 10 best 3000m times is 7:29.706 and 12:52.114 for 5000m – among the fastest averages for these distances.

KIPCHOGE’S AVERAGE PACE IN HIS 1:59:41
1km 2:50.2
1M 4:34.1
5km 14:10.9
10km 28:21.8
10 miles 45:34

5km splits
5km 14:14 (Monza 14:14), 10km 28:28 (14:14) (28:21), 15km 42:34 (14:06) (42:34), 20km 56:47 (14:13) (56:49), 25km 1:10:59 (14:12) (71:03), 30km 1:25:11 (14:12) (1:25:20), 35km 1:39:23 (14:12) (1:39:37), 40km 1:53:35 (14:12) (1:54:00)

KIPCHOGE’S MARATHON CAREER

Date / Position / Venue / Time / Margin / 1st/2nd

April 2013 / 1st / Hamburg / 2:05:30 / 2:05 / 2nd Lemenih Getachew 2:07:35
Sept 2013 / 2nd / Berlin / 2:04:05 / 0:42 / 1st Wilson Kipsang 2:03:23
April 2014 / 1st / Rotterdam / 2:05:00 / 1:08 / 2nd Bernard Koech 2:06:08
Oct 2014 / 1st / Chicago / 2:04:11 / 0:17 / 2nd Sammy Kitwara 2:04:28
Apr 2015 / 1st / London / 2:04:42 / 0.05 / 2nd Kipsang 2:04:47
Sept 2015 / 1st / Berlin / 2:04:00 / 1:21 / 2nd Eliud Kiptanui 2:05:21
Apr 2016 / 1st / London / 2:03:05 / 0:46 / 2nd Stanley Biwott 2:03:51
Aug 2016 / 1st / Rio Olympics / 2:08:44 / 1:10 / 2nd Feyisa Lilesa 2:09:54
May 2017 / nr / Monza / 2:00:25
Sep 2017 / 1st / Berlin / 2:03:32 / 0:14 / 2nd Guye Adola 2:03:46
Apr 2018 / 1st / London / 2:04:17 / 0:32 / 2nd Tola Shura 2:04:49
Sep 2018 / 1st / Berlin / 2:01:39 / 4:44 / 2nd Amos Kipruto 2:06:23
Apr 2019 / 1st / London / 2:02:37 / 0:18 / 2nd Mosinet Geremew 2:02:55
Oct 2019 / nr / Vienna / 1:59:41

Kipchoge’s PBs

Track
1500m 3:33.20 Hengelo 2004
Mile 3:50.40 London 2004
3000m 7:27.66 Doha 2011
2M 8:07.39i Birmingham
5000m 12:46.53 Rome 2004
10,000m 26:49.02 Hengelo 2007

Road
2M 8:02 Newcastle 2008
5km 13:11 Carlsbad 2010
10km 27:34 Madrid 2005
HM 59:25 Lille 2012

Major Championships record

2002 World Junior XC Champs 5th
2003 World Junior XC Champs 1st
2003 World Champs 5000m 1st
2004 World XC Champs 4th
2004 Olympic 5000m 4th
2005 World XC Champs 5th
2004 World Indoor 3000m 3rd
2007 World Champs 5000m 2nd
2008 Olympic 5000m 2nd
2009 World Champs 5000m 5th
2010 Commonwealth 5000m 2nd
2011 World Champs 5000m 7th
2012 World HM Champs 6th
2016 Olympic Marathon 1st