October 08, (THEWILL) – Kelvin Kiptum made history at the Chicago Marathon on Sunday, breaking the men’s marathon world record by an incredible 34 seconds. The 23-year-old Kenyan completed the course in two hours and 35 seconds, shattering the previous benchmark set by his compatriot Eliud Kipchoge in Berlin last year.
Kiptum was patient in the early stages before accelerating after halfway to negative split the race. He ran the second half of the marathon in 59 minutes and 47 seconds to record a remarkable time of 2:00:35.
“I feel so happy. I was prepared, I knew I was coming for a course record, but fortunately [it was] a world record,” an elated Kiptum said after the race. It was his third consecutive marathon victory and he finished more than three minutes ahead of second placed Kenyan Benson Kipruto.
The phenomenal time brings Kiptum close to achieving his bold ambition of running under two hours for the marathon. “In the future, I know I can run two hours,” the 23-year-old stated prior to Chicago. While not there yet, he came agonisingly close to hitting his target in Illinois.
Kiptum has enjoyed a stellar year, setting a course record to win the London Marathon in April before smashing the Chicago course record en route to claiming the world record. His blistering run cements his status as the world’s preeminent marathon runner.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
