Two days, two 42.195km runs, two barriers broken – but two very different circumstances.
On Saturday morning in Vienna, Olympic champion Eliud Kipchoge produced the fastest time ever for the marathon distance with a 1:59:40.2 clocking at the Ineos159 Challenge, an unofficial time trial event that had been orchestrated to see if a human was capable of covering the marathon distance within two hours.
About 30 hours later, fellow Kenyan Brigid Kosgei crossed the finish line at the Bank of America Chicago Marathon in 2:14:04, taking 81 seconds off the longest-standing marathon world record – men’s or women’s – in the modern era.
For several years, many people believed that the two barriers – 2:00:00 for men and 2:15:25 for women – would stand the test of time. But in recent years the world’s top marathon runners have closed in on those marks as the overall standard of road running continues to rise.
"We always knew the time would come when the record would be broken," said Paula Radcliffe, whose world record of 2:15:25 had stood since 2003.
"I can tell people that no human is limited," said Kipchoge after his run. "It shows the positivity of sport. I want to make the sport an interesting sport whereby all human beings can run and together we can make this world a beautiful world."
• Report: Kipchoge breaks two-hour barrier in Vienna
• Report: Kosgei smashes marathon world record in Chicago
Profile
Brigid Kosgei
Born: 20 Feb 1994. Coach: Erick Kimaiyo
Unlike many leading Kenyan athletes who first make their mark as an U18 or U20 athlete, Brigid Kosgei’s career path was somewhat different.
Born in Sinon village at Kapsowar, Kosgei was one of eight children in her family. But in 2012 she was forced to leave school because her family couldn’t afford the fees, meaning she missed out on sitting her final exams. Keen to do something with her days, Kosgei and her partner Mathew started to dedicate more time to training.
But two years later, Kosgei’s athletics ambitions had to be put on hold as she gave birth to twins, Faith and Brian. With support from Mathew, now her husband, Kosgei slowly got back into training with a view to entering road races.
Erick Kimaiyo, a 2:07:43 performer and runner-up at the 1997 Berlin Marathon, invited Kosgei to join the Kapsait Athletics Training Camp in Elgeyo Marakwet in 2015. Kosgei and her husband decided that Mathew would stay at home to look after the children while Kosgei stayed at the camp from Monday to Saturday each week.
Instead of testing the waters with a low-key 10km or half marathon, her first international race was the 2015 Porto Marathon in Portugal, which she won in 2:47:59. The time wasn’t earth-shattering, by any means, but it provided Kosgei, then 21, with valuable experience and a taste for success.
During the road running season the following April, Kosgei achieved her second marathon victory, winning the Milan Marathon in a huge PB of 2:27:45. Later that year, she reduced her best to 2:24:45 to finish second in Lisbon and ended 2016 with a victory at the Honolulu Marathon – a race her coach had won 20 years prior.
She took another big step up in 2017, finishing eighth at the Boston Marathon and second in Chicago in a PB of 2:20:22. She ended the year by retaining her Honolulu Marathon, smashing the course record with 2:22:15.
Kosgei’s progress continued through 2018 as she placed second at the London Marathon in 2:20:13 and then took almost two minutes off that PB with her 2:18:35 victory at the Chicago Marathon.
She has been undefeated in 2019, winning the Houston Half Marathon in a course record of 1:05:50, clocking a half marathon PB of 1:05:28 in Zallaq and winning the London Marathon in 2:18:20, another PB. She won at the Great North Run last month in 1:04:28, the fastest half marathon performance in history, although not eligible for record purposes given the downhill nature of the course.
Kosgei successfully defended her Chicago Marathon title in 2:14:04, but it appears as though she is still just getting started.
Marathon barriers
First accepted world bests
Men – 2:55:18 Johnny Hayes (USA) London, 1908
Women – 3:40:22 Violet Piercy (GBR) London, 1926
First sub-2:30
Men – 2:29:01.8 Albert Michelsen (USA) Port Chester, 1925
Women – 2:27:32.6 Grete Waitz (NOR) New York City, 1979
First sub-2:20
Men – 2:18:40.4 Jim Peters (GBR) Chiswick, 1953
Women – 2:19:46 Naoko Takahashi (JPN) Berlin, 2001
First sub-2:10
2:09:36.4 Derek Clayton (AUS) Fukuoka, 1967
First sub-2:05
2:04:55 Paul Tergat (KEN) Berlin, 2003
Current world records
Men – 2:01:39 Eliud Kipchoge (KEN) Berlin, 2018
Women – 2:14:04 Brigid Kosgei (KEN) Chicago, 2019 (pending ratification)
Fastest 42.195km run
1:59:40.2 Eliud Kipchoge (KEN) Vienna, 2019 (cannot be ratified)
IAAF
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