Eliud Kipchoge made history on the 24th of September 2023 after winning his fifth Berlin Marathon race becoming the first ever marathon runner in history to achieve such a milestone. Before this win, Eliud Kipchoge had won the marathon four times and set two world records along the way.
In 2015, Eliud Kipchoge proved himself to be the pre-eminent marathon racer of recent years when he won the BMW Berlin Marathon, an IAAF Gold Label Road Race, in a world-leading time of 2:04:00. This was the perfect announcement of him into the marathon stage. In 2017, he surprised many when he won his second title at the BMW Berlin Marathon in a world-leading 2:03:32 surpassing his previous time of 2:04:00 that he had set in 2015. In 2018, at only 33 years old, Eliud Kipchoge broke the world record at the BMW Berlin Marathon by winning his third race in 2:01:39. 2022 was yet another spectacular year for Eliud Kipchoge in the BMW Berlin Marathon as he set set a new marathon world record, winning the race with a time of 2:01:09, and beating the previous record, which he had set himself four years prior in Berlin, by 30 seconds. This was Kipchoge’s fourth victory at the Berlin Marathon, making him the second runner to win the race four times, after Ethiopian runner Haile Gebrselassie.
In 2023, his participate at the BMW Berlin Marathon marked his 6th appearance at the event. The world had eyes on Eliud to see if he will continue with his spectacular performance at the event after finishing 6th in the London Marathon in April 2023. On Sunday 24th September 2023, Eliud Kipchoge clocked in a time of 2:02:42 to retain his BMW Berlin Marathon title, extending his wins to a record five surpassing legendary Haile Gebrselassie’s record of four titles at the Berlin capital. Though his new time was 1 minute and 33 seconds later than his recording breaking performance at the same event in 2022, Kipchoge still made the country proud.
Debutant Vincent Kipkemboi came in second in 2:03:13 and immediately he got the attention of many in the world of athletics and already there are speculations that he might be Eliud’s pressor after his great run is done and dusted. Ethiopia’s Tedese Takele come in third with a time of 2:03:24. Another Kenyan Ronald Korir came in fourth with a time of 2:04:22.
In the ladies category, Ethiopia’s Tigist Assefa smashed the women’s marathon record which was set by Kenya’s Brigid Kosgei at the 2019 Chicago Marathon by winning in 2:11:53 – more than two minutes ahead of the previous mark. Kenya’s Sheila Chepkirui who was making her third appearance over the 42km race came home second in 2:17:49 as Magdalena Shauri of Tanzania clocked 2:18:41 to finish third.