FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
BMW BERLIN-MARATHON on 16th September:
Eliud Kipchoge's Mission is to break his personal best
Eliud Kipchoge's aim at the BMW BERLIN-MARATHON on September 16 this year
is clear cut: to break his personal best. Given that he is the Olympic
champion and acknowledged to be the number one for the distance in recent
years, this suggests the 33-year-old Kenyan is ready to produce something
special. His best is currently 2:03:05, set in winning the 2016 Virgin
Money London Marathon. This was eight seconds slower than the world record
which remains in the possession of his compatriot Dennis Kimetto (2:02:57),
when winning the 2014 race in Berlin. Kipchoge's mental as well as physical
prowess has suggested for some time that the world record is within his
reach.
A strong contender will also be the former world record holder in the
marathon Wilson Kipsang. Now 36, the Kenyan set his world record time of
2:03:23 in 2013 in Berlin. Kipchoge and Kipsang lined up last year with the
target of breaking 2:03 as a key objective but such hopes were dashed by
steady rain throughout. Kipchoge won in difficult conditions in 2:03:32
while Kipsang dropped out.Another to be taken into consideration is
Zersenay Tadese of Eritrea, five times a winner of the world half marathon
title as well as world record holder for the distance.
Eliud Kipchoge has a strong claim to be the greatest marathon runner of all
time. He is the reigning Olympic champion, having won the title in Rio in
2016, three times a winner in London (2015, 16 and 18), twice winner of
the BMW BERLIN-MARATHON title as well as winner of the Bank of America
Chicago Marathon in 2014. He finished runner-up in Berlin in 2013 when
Wilson Kipsang broke the world record. He broke into new territory in May
last year when running 2:00:25 for the marathon distance, achieved on the
Formula One circuit of Monza in Italy though substitute pacemakers made the
time ineligible as a record. In Berlin on September 16 Eliud Kipchoge is
keen to show what he can do in regular competition and under hopefully
favourable weather conditions: "My preparation is entirely concentrated on
the BMW BERLIN-MARATHON on September 16. I am confident I can beat my
personal best on this fast course if conditions are good."
Wilson Kipsang's best marathon time is not his world record from 2013 but
ten seconds faster: 2:03:13 which he ran three years later in Berlin which
left him runner-up behind Kenenisa Bekele of Ethiopia, whose time of
2:03:03 was only six seconds outside Kimetto's world record.
Zersenay Tadese of Eritea is the oldest of this trio at 36 and, though
highly experienced over the distance events in general, has the least
experience of the three in the marathon. No-one has gone close to his world
record of 58:23 for the Half Marathon, set in Lisbon in 2010. His personal
best for the marathon is 2:10:41, achieved in the London Marathon in 2012.
However he did run 2:06:51 in the Monza race in May 2017, which was
irregular. Additionally he ran three more marathons between 2010 and 2017.
Last October Tadese was eighth in Chicago with 2:12:19.
The BMW BERLIN-MARATHON is one of the world's leading marathons, not least
because its super-fast course has been the stage for ten world records -
three by women, seven by men. Since 2003 all six world marathon records
were run in Berlin including the current top time of 2:02:57 by Dennis
Kimetto. In 2001 Japan's Naoko Takahashi became the first woman to break
2:20 when the Olympic Marathon Champion from the previous year ran 2:19:43.
Highly popular bib numbers for the BMW BERLIN-MARATHON are always sold out
since 2006. Runners have to apply in October for a lottery system which
determines who will receive a starting place. Additionally travel agents
and sponsor receive a certain number of guaranteed entries. 43,852 runners
were registered for the BMW BERLIN-MARATHON 2017.
The BMW BERLIN-MARATHON is part of the Abbott World Marathon Majors (AWMM),
the group of six leading marathons in the world which was founded in 2006.
They comprise Tokyo, London, Boston, Berlin, Chicago and New York. The
winners and leading finishers at the six AWMM races earn points according
to their positions which culminate in an overall men's and women's winner
at the end of a one-year-cycle.
The prize money for the winners amounts to $ 250,000 each. Since 2016 the
series has also included wheelchair athletes. An age group category for
mass runners has now been added with a points system to decide men's and
women's winners. Series XII begins with the BMW BERLIN-MARATHON 2018 and
will end with the Berlin race in 2019. Further information about the
scoring system for elite and mass competitors can be found at:
www.worldmarathonmajors.com More information is available online at:
www.berlin-marathon.com
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