On 8th of October 2023 the world record for marathon was corrected again, but this time not in Berlin, but on the streets of Chicago. Kelvin Kiptum crushed everything and in spite of me being sure the Kenyan will get the WR, there are a lot of unusual components involved and I want to present them as they happened, because I found quite few to none information about most of them.

1. Kelvin Kiptum runs more than Eliud Kipchoge

According to Kiptum’s coach, he runs between 250 and 280 kilometers per week and even more than 300 in peak training. Of course, this is not happening every week – or is it? – but still the volumes are huge, especially that Kipchoge, from the same statement, is more a 180 – 220 km / week guy. Huge topping! Then, what does Kiptum eat / take to compensate the ridiculous effort he makes?

The fact that he runs so much, cannot be verified actually anywhere, we need to take the word of his coach, Hakizimana. He runs even, allegedly, twice per week / day, between 30 and 40 km at close to marathon pace. It is unbelievable, but I cannot imagine any coach would say… “hey, he is running 100 km / week and a lot of rest!” No way… But actually, the volumes and intensity cannot be checked anywhere.

The statement of Hakizimana that “he trains too hard and he might burns out” is just strange, since it messages us that Kelvin actually doesn’t follow a strict training plan, a component that, normally, needs to be adjusted at Swiss watch precision for such performance. What is actually the role of his coach in the entire story and how much and at what pace does Kiptum really train? The actual numbers should be very, very interesting, but I find them very unlikely to leak out.

2. The World Record is set in Berlin, not Chicago

Berlin is highly popular for being a race which helps in correcting the marathon world record every few years and this didn’t started with Kipchoge. In Chicago this also happened a couple of times in the past, talking now about the male race, but the last time it did in 1999. During this period, as a comparison, in Berlin the record went down eight times – all in the last 20 years!

Actually, Kenyans and Ethiopians, the guys from the East are the ones who done this world record breaking in recent years, and all of them were long time elite runner, for several distances. In 1999, the last time when it was settled a marathon male world record in Chicago, the author was from Morocco,  Khalid Khannouchi. A guy that won the even four times and after his second victory he represented the United States.

3. The Chicago Marathon course record, crushed by more than three minutes!

In Chicago, the previous record was also held by a Kenyan, Dennis Kimetto, a guy who had the marathon WR between 2014 and 2018 and who ran this race in 2:03:45. 10 years later, Kelvin Kiptum, crushed everything with three minutes and 10 seconds and, in my opinion, he has huge reserves for going below the official two hour mark in 2024.

Now, Kimetto was more than a good long distance runner, but the fact that he run only in 2:03:45 the Chicago marathon proved that, in the end, Berlin has better potential for a rocket time, so this is why I am pretty sure the capital city of Germany will witness an official sub two hour marathon from Kelvin Kiptum next year.

4. Started marathon training in 2021, three marathons under 2:02 in less than a year!

Again, according to his coach, Kiptum started a marathon training program in 2021. The results are incredible, as, if you remember, the guy ran three marathons in 10 months, all below 2 hours and 2 minutes! We are talking here about Valencia, London and, now Chicago. All course records, obviously! 

Can somebody explain how is this possible? The marathon has similar components to 10k, half-marathon and other such events, but to start a training plan and get such results almost overnight really represents a case study that need to be well documented and shared. Is this only genetics? Well, I don’t know the answer, but it looks at least debatable!

5. Kelvin Kiptum, a rather big guy for a marathoner

When you are 1.81 meters tall and weight 65 kilos you are not necessary a huge guy, but for a top marathon runner this is rather unusual, considering most elites – not all – are usually below 1.70 meters and below 60 kilos. For example, Kipchoge is at 52 kilograms, which means Kiptum’s heart need to pump for 13 kilos more and at that effort it is never easy.

In general, the East-Africans are closer to Kipchoge’s characteristics, than to the size of Rupp, Moen, Ringer, or even Mo Farah or Wilson Kipsang. Most of them are / were great runners, but apart from Kipsang with 2:03:13, none went below 2:05 for the marathon, let alone reach a mark so close to what Kelvin Kiptum achieved.

6. Kelvin Kiptum ran km 30 – 40 at faster pace compared to his PB for 10 km!!!

The most shocking fact and least discussed were the split time managed by Kelvin Kiptum. His personal best recorded for 10.000 meters happened in 2021 and it is 28:27, while the fastest time on a 10 km road race is 10 seconds better, 28:17, dated in 2019. Now, these times are quite average and they are not necessary look bad for a marathoner, unless you manage to beat that in marathon race! But not for any split, but for the final 10k split, between kilometer 30 and 40!

Kiptum recorded, as you can see below, a shocking 27:52 – also he had 27:50 in London! – for this portion which, mostly, represented the secret of his success? How is that even possible? Now, it is known that he can speed up for the last part, but how much? You can see, as a comparison, Kipchoge has pretty good splits of 10 kilometers – as you can imagine – but the point is that Eliud has PB for this distance below 27 minutes, which is a huge difference.

Now, it does look strange and this needs to be analyzed deeply, but basically my understanding from all this is that, in “normal” circumstances, Kelvin Kiptum can settle world records for every distance from 5.000 meters to marathon. Will this happen? Don’t know, but it is surely possible and, myself, I am waiting for some answers. The topics raised by me are legitimate and none looks to explain clearly how Kelvin Kiptum reached so fast, such great peaks in marathon!

 Photo source: runblogrun.com