RUNNING
Eliud Kipchoge leaves marathon world record in tatters
The Kenyan slices a staggering 78sec off the previous best
Berlin — Kenya’s Olympic champion Eliud Kipchoge pulverised the marathon world record with a blistering run on Sunday, slicing a staggering 78sec off the previous best to land the one major crown that had eluded him. The 33-year-old, widely seen as the greatest marathon runner of the modern era, ran an official 2hr 1min 39sec on a sunny day along the flat inner-city course, smashing Dennis Kimetto’s previous record, which had stood since 2014. Fellow Kenyan Gladys Cherono won the women’s race with a course record and best time of the year of 2:18:11, leaving Ethiopians Ruti Aga and pre-race favourite Tirunesh Dibaba in second and third place. Kipchoge’s run was the biggest improvement on the marathon mark since Australian Derek Clayton took almost 2min 30sec off the record in 1967. "I lack words to describe this day," said a beaming Kipchoge, a former world champion over 5,000m and marathon gold medallist at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in 2016. "I am really grateful, happy to smash ...
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