In the annual Chicago marathon, Kenyan distance runner Kelvin Kiptum broke the men’s marathon world record on October 8th 2023, with a shocking time of 2:00:35.
Kelvin Kiptum is a 23-year-old distance runner born and raised in Kenya. At 5’11, 143 pounds, he carries himself through any course swiftly.
The morning of the race it was a cloudy, cold day, allowing Kiptum to take advantage of the optimal running conditions and shatter the old world record, getting a time of 2:00:35, shaving a total of 34 seconds off the previous 2:01:09 record, set by Eliud Kipchoge in late September.
Kiptum had come close to the record in the past. He ran only 2 marathons before his record-breaking race, getting times of 2:01:53 at the Valencia Marathon in December of 2022 and 2:01:25 at the London Marathon in April of 2023. After only his 2nd marathon, he was already ranked second in the world.
A typical week of training for Kiptum ends up being between 250 and 280 km, or 155–173 miles. Most days he jogs 25-28 km in the morning, and 12km in the afternoon. With a difficult workout on Thursdays in which he runs close to 40 km at marathon pace. His training is demanding, running consistently 7 days a week without breaks.
Kiptum went into the race determined to set a new course record but wasn’t expecting to break the world record that day. After finding out his record-breaking time, he was overjoyed.
“I knew I was coming for a course record, but a world record — I am so happy” Kiptum said in a post-race interview with World Athletics “A world record was not on my mind today, but I knew one day I would be a world record-holder”.
“Kiptum is a great marathoner, as he proved during this remarkable finish. I hope he receives the recognition he deserves as he is the future of this challenging event in this amazing sport,” said Lily Dalton, Sports Editor of The Greyhound and cross country/track junior athlete at NHS.
Kiptum put in the work, and it clearly paid off. With the difficult weeks of training and the remarkable marathon times. If we look at all the improvements Kiptum has been making in such a short period of time, a sub-2-hour marathon doesn’t seem out of reach for this groundbreaking runner.
