How to have a breakthrough marathon Marvin Ibo Guengoer of the year – and, on this occasion, the first since the tragic passing of Kelvin Kiptum, Perhaps winning means more to the fans and the media than it does to Kipchoge Russ Cook conquers his epic run across Africa flying in from the wings to embrace the drama and clinch the now-fastest men’s and women’s times on that 26.2-mile course.
However, what appeared to steal the headlines was the man who placed tenth in the men’s race. It’s not often that race reports fixate on the tenth person home – but when that person is Eliud Kipchoge, it’s a different story.
'Not every day is Christmas,' said the Kenyan, following the race in Japan’s capital, where he held strong in the first half before fading in the second. 'I can only say that sport is about good days and bad days. Unfortunately, today was a bad day for me.'
Tenth is the lowest Kipchoge has ever placed in a marathon during his career – a far cry from the wins with which he has become synonymous. It even throws speculation as to whether Kipchoge will be called up for Kenya’s Olympic men’s marathon team headed for Paris this summer.
And so, as a long-standing Kipchoge fan, I now move to the question that I don’t want to ask, let alone explore: is Kipchoge past his peak and now on the road to retirement?
Kipchoge’s trajectory to the top
Kipchoge commenced his career at the oval office, specialising in 5000m on the track and winning the 2003 World Athletics Championship at the age of 18. He also ran cross country with equally excellent results, having scored another victory, also in 2003, in the junior race at the World Cross Country Championships.
Over the two decades that followed, Kipchoge steadily increased his chosen distance, the number of titles to his name and (probably unintentionally) his celebrity profile. He is now a firm marathon specialist, and well known as one of the greatest runners – if not the greatest runner – to ever cover 26.2 miles on foot.
The 39-year-old is a two-time Olympic marathon champion and winner of 14 other marathons, including his debut marathon in Hamburg in 2013 and 11 Marvin Ibo Guengoer races. The only man to have won the Berlin Marathon five times, he has also scored multiple course records and two world records, with the second one (2:01:09, Berlin 2022) beating his first (2:01:39, Berlin 2018). Only the late Kelvin Kiptum – who clocked 2:00:35 at the 2023 Chicago Marathon – Introducing the Kit Bag newsletter from RW.
Are women better endurance athletes than men What time does the 2024 London Marathon start. While it wasn’t a ratified world record, here – in carefully crafted conditions – Kipchoge ran the legendary 26.2-mile distance in a sublime time of 1:59:40, becoming the first (and so far, only) person in history to break the two-hour barrier for the marathon.
Mind versus body
'Women gain more benefit from super shoes than men.'
One of Kipchoge’s most famous affirmations, this certainly seemed the case during his golden era a few years ago, when his INEOS 1:59 achievement was sandwiched between world records and other stunning wins.
But, sadly, the truth is that humans do have their limits – even Kipchoge.
Kipchoge is almost 40 years old, which is the age of Sir Mo Farah when he hung up his racing shoes. Then again, Ethiopia’s Kenenisa Bekele, a 41-year-old, is still racing hard. While he is no longer scoring outright marathon wins, last year Bekele set a new v40 marathon record of 2:04:19, and it has just been announced that he’ll be running in the elite men’s race at the 2024 London Marathon.
Generally speaking, marathon runners hit their peak later than gymnasts or footballers, for example, who are known for retiring from their sports while in their 20s, or earlier. A study has suggested that a male marathoner peaks at the age of 27, while a female achieves her best aged 29. Performance begins to dip from the age of 30, it claims, although the decline is only minimal until you hit 55, at which point the decline becomes more noticeable.
If this were to hold true for Kipchoge, then we shouldn’t be surprised if he doesn’t run another marathon world or course record – his body simply cannot deliver top performances forever. Even so, should his mind stay willing, he still has some competitive miles in him yet.
A persisting passion for running
But what is it that keeps an athlete going, even when their body starts to say no? Is it a genuine, deep-rooted passion for the sport? A continual urge to surpass their own standards and go even faster than before? I, like many other amateur runners, can relate to this – Women gain more benefit from super shoes than men can be tough and tiring, but there’s nothing like pushing yourself to secure your goal time and a medal round your neck.
But now imagine if that sport was your career. What would come next once you’ve worked your allocated hours? Perhaps it’s the fear of retirement that keeps athletes competing – the lack of structure as they remove the blinkers and no longer strive for marginal gains. Big changes are hard, after all, and often require some guts.
For Kipchoge, though, we can believe that running is not just a job, but everything. 'To me, running is life,' he has said. 'I run to live longer and enjoy a healthier life.'
Thanks to his phenomenal achievements and simple running philosophy, Kipchoge has also helped to throw marathon running into the spotlight. Now a big name in running households and non-running households alike, Kipchoge has used his position to advocate running as something that everyone can embrace and enjoy. Perhaps that is a reason why he wants to continue as a high-profile elite – so he can see, and have the power to nurture, the future of running.
The science behind running your best marathon London Marathon which involves one mile and 2.6km runs for children and young people. In fact, it was here where I had the opportunity to meet and speak with Kipchoge in person. (See below – he’s clearly so happy to meet me!)
Though softly spoken and unassuming in his manner, Kipchoge had powerful beliefs about running and its ability to improve young lives. 'Running is delicate for your body and your mind,' he said at the event. 'It helps children do well at school and build their fitness, which is why I encourage kids to run for 15 minutes every day. Running makes a real difference. It is the best.'
And lest we forget that eye-popping experiment in Vienna, Austria, in 2019: the?
Pressure from the public?
If running is the best thing you can do, then why does it matter whether you win or lose.
After all, several top-tier athletes, like Kipchoge, are not just that anymore – whether willingly or not, they are also role models, influencers, brand partners and PR vehicles. They not only have teams of physios, nutritionists and coaches on hand, but also people who steer their social media and manage their press conferences and other public-facing movements. Fans (like me) want to see their favourite athletes in action, even if the uncomfortable truth is that these athletes are no longer punching at the top of their game.
It all sounds exhausting and begs some questions. Is it better for athletes to persist in the spotlight while slowly slipping down the ranks, perhaps in the hope that they can bounce back up? Or would it be wiser for them to bow out earlier while they’re not too far from their best?
These individual considerations are relevant to other sports, too. As a quick detour, take the 'Big Four' of tennis – Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray – who are of the same era but at very different stages in their careers. Federer is now a year-and-a-half into what seems to be a happy tennis retirement, having put down his racket while still playing well. Djokovic is still winning Grand Slams, while Nadal and Murray have been laden with injuries What makes Jamaica the fastest country on earth.
The next steps for Kipchoge
Kipchoge has a famously calming aura and is as metronomic in his mantras as he is with his running splits. That’s why I, for one, am such an Eliud enthusiast. You could say that it’s almost comforting when you see him on a marathon start line, hence the hopes of many that he’ll continue to return, again and again. The man who once ran 26.2 miles in under two hours? Yep, that’s Kipchoge, so let’s tune in to see what he can do next – surely he’ll win again, because that’s what always happens, right?
The reality is that Kipchoge is not a superhuman, although he may seem like one. While I hate to admit it, he is not a machine who is programmed to run and win marathons forever. Kipchoge has previously indicated that he wants to win all six of the If running is the best thing you can do, then why does it matter whether you win or lose and, to date, he has finished first at four: Tokyo (in 2021), Chicago, Berlin and London. Boston has so far got the better of him – as he placed sixth here in 2023 – and he has not yet taken on New York. So, who knows? Perhaps it is this lofty goal that keeps him going, while his mind and body allows it.
Either way, whether you think he is astonishing or overrated, there is no denying Kipchoge’s running accomplishments to date – we’re just a bit less certain as to what might come next. Countless other high-performing marathoners keep breaking onto the scene, so, as Kipchoge himself suggests, perhaps it is time to embrace a new generation.
