New marathon record set in Berlin by Eliud Kipchoge - Sun 25th Sept 2022

Last week, I had a post up about whether Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya could break his own marathon record of 2:01:39 in the 2022 Berlin Marathon?

Sure enough, he duly delivered last Sunday with an amazing time of 2h 01m 09s which was 30 seconds faster than his previous record set in Berlin in 2018.

The new record works out as an average pace of 4:37 per mile (2:52/km) for 26.2 miles which is just crazy.

The problem when reading media reports about new records is that it can often be difficult to know how much of an improvement a new record is. Is a 29-second improvement a lot? How much were the previous records broken by?

With that in mind, I put together a chart showing the progression of the marathon record since the year 2000.

After the 2002 record was set in London, the next six records were broken by these amounts... 43s, 29s, 27s, 21s, 15s & 25s... an average of 27-seconds. In this regard, the improvement by 30-seconds this year is a similar to the amount that the record was broken in previous years.

The major outlier recently though was Kipchoge's record of 2:01:39 in 2018 which was a huge improvement of 78-seconds on Kimetto's record of 2:02:57 set in 2014. 

The one major change in the last few years has been the advances in running shoe technology with inbuilt levers returning more energy to the athlete when the foot hits the ground. It very likely that this accounts for a lot of  the huge improvement of 78-seconds in 2018.

Is a sub 2-hour record possible??? The new marathon record of 2:01:09 is still 69-seconds away from the 2-hour barrier. Without some sort of game changing shoe tech, it's a huge gap to bridge.

On the 12th of October 2019 in Vienna, Kipchoge ran 1:59:40 for the INEOS 1:59 Challenge. This involved running 4.4 laps of the Hauptallee, a tree-lined avenue picked as the location because of its long, flat straight sections and its protection from the wind.

The effort did not count as an official new world record under IAAF rules due to several factors...

a) It was not an open event.
b) Kipchoge was handed fluids by his support team throughout.
c) The run featured a pace car.
d) Kipchoge had a team of 41 pacemakers, featuring some of the best middle and long-distance runners. 

It's worth noting that all of the marathon records since 2003 have been set in Berlin. In 2019, two Ethiopian athletes ran 2:02:48 and 2:01:41 in Berlin so it's seem to be the marathon of choice for the fastest times.

In November of this year, Kipchoge will be 38-years old and is probably close to the end of his running career. If someone does eventually break 2-hours then I suspect it will be someone younger and a really exceptional athlete.

It's possible that the marathon record in an open race may never reach two hours. The aerodynamic drag at these speeds is a major factor which may be the ultimate stumbling block.

Berlin Video... This video from Total Running Productions gives an overview of Kipchoge's race last Sunday.

Cork runner Donal Coakley wins 10k race in Berlin

Following on from his second place finish in the Glanmire 4 mile last weekend, Cork runner Donal Coakley was in action this weekend in Berlin where he won a 10k race! The Lichtenauer Wasserlauf had 351 finishers with Donal taking the title with a time of 36:00.
.
1 246 Coakley, Donal M 30 1 Leevale A.C 36:00 min
2 230    Lamm, Martin M 45 1 Berlin 36:27 min
3 199    Menges, Björn M 30 2 KRAFT Runners Berlin 36:51 m

Results... http://www.ziel-zeit.de/ergebnisse/10+km_2_1059.pdf

Of course, no race would be complete with a '10 Things I Think About' report from Donal...


10 Things I Think About The 13. Lichtenauer Wasserlauf in Berlin... by Donal Coakley

Irish results at the Berlin Half-Marathon...Sun 2nd Apr 2017

The Berlin Half-Marathon was held on Sunday the 2nd of April 2017 and attracted roughly 34,000 runners from 106 countries.

Among the finishers, there were 137 from Ireland and several from Cork and Munster.

The first Irish man home was Sean Hehir, a County Clare native in a time of 65m 39s. The Irish results can be seen below. Munster results in Bold..

place    Name    ac    club    Netto
14    » Hehir, Sean (IRL)    M30    Rathfarnham Wsaf Ac    01:05:39
69    » McCauley, Conor (IRL)    M30    Leevale AC    01:12:23
141    » Kennedy, Stuart (IRL)    M45    Beechmount Harriers    01:16:49
152    » Birch, Raymond (IRL)    M35    letterkenny ac    01:17:22
206    » Coakley, Donal (IRL)    M30    Leevale A.C    01:18:52
539    » Carty, Michael (IRL)    M40    Stockholm    01:24:56

Claire McCarthy from Cork runs 2:38 time in Berlin Marathon to qualify for the 2017 World Championships

The Berlin Marathon was held on Sunday the 25th of September and attracted a huge field of runners including many from Ireland.

Claire McCarthy enroute to a PB of 2:38 in Berlin. Photo: Kieran Carlin

Clare McCarthy of Leevale AC in Cork ran a personal best time of 2h 38m 00s and now provisionally qualifies her for the 2016 World Championships in London. What's pretty amazing is that Claire's time is exactly the same as the Irish qualifying standard.

Gladys Ganiel of North Belfast Harriers finished in 2:39:10 which is inside the IAAF standard but outside the Irish one.

"* Performance Standards set by Athletics Ireland for selection consideration
Athletics Ireland has set its own Qualification Periods in which the Performance Standards must be achieved. Selection will be based on performances during the Qualification Periods from 1 January 2016 to 24 April 2017 for the Marathon (subject to change when official information is released)."

Cork Runners in Berlin under 2:50...
107 Mccauley, Conor (IRL)    M30    Leevale AC    02:31:54    02:31:46
118 O Connell, John (IRL)    M35            02:32:49    02:32:41
152 O'Brien, Alan (IRL)    M35    Eagle Ac        02:35:28    02:34:56
218 Casey, Owen (IRL)    M30    Leevale Ac        02:38:03    02:37:55
9 McCarthy, Claire (IRL)    W40    Irland        02:38:00    02:38:00
240 Murnane, Christopher (IRL)    M30    St Finbarrs    02:39:20    02:38:47
451 Boland, Ronan (IRL)    M50    Eagle Ac        02:46:12    02:45:43
459 Coakley, Donal (IRL)    M30    Leevale Ac    02:46:11    02:45:51

Irish runners under 3 hours in Berlin....

Michelle Finn records another sub 9:50 time in 3000m Steeplechase race in Berlin

Michelle Finn of Leevale AC was in action in the womens 3000m steeplechase race at the ISTAF meeting in Berlin on Saturday evening (3rd Sept 2016) and recorded yet another sub 9:50 time. As you can see from the results below, the Cork woman recorded a time of 9m 47.51s. The other Irish contender in the race was Kerry O'Flaherty who finished in 10:10.57.

3000m Steeplechase Women
3 SEP 2016 / 19:10
Rank Name Nat Date of Birth Order Result
1 CHESPOL Celliphine Chepteek KEN 22 JUN 1998 9 9:25.49
2 KRAUSE Gesa Felicitas GER 3 AUG 1992 11 9:30.95
3 SHATALOVA Mariya UKR 3 MAR 1989 8 9:34.97
4 KIRUI Purity KEN 13 AUG 1991 10 9:39.80
5 SUSSMANN Jana GER 12 OCT 1990 2 9:41.05 PB
6 KOWAL Matylda POL 1 NOV 1989 3 9:46.46
7 FINN Michele IRL 16 NOV 1989 5 9:47.51
8 FENTE Birtukan ETH 18 JUN 1989 4 10:07.61
9 O´FLAHERTY Kerry IRL 15 JUL 1981 1 10:10.57

 

As the outdoor season draws to a close, it has been a great year so far for Michelle. These are her 3000m Steeplechase times this year ...

3000 m steeple
9:54.89   SB 1 Univ Ch Dublin 16 Apr
9:58.84   6 Hamburg 22 May
10:10.32   15  IFAM Oordegem 28 May
9:46.81   SB 1 National Championships Dublin 26 Jun
9:45.93   SB 4h1 European Championships Amsterdam 8 Jul
9:43.19   PB (82)  7 European Championships Amsterdam 10 Jul
9:49.45   11h2 Olympic Games Río de Janeiro 13 Aug

Her 9:54 time in April was practically a solo time trial. In May, it was 9:58 for in Hamburg. In June, she won the Irish National Championships in 9:46. In July, she ran 9:43 at the European Championships and in August, she ran 9:49 in the heat of the Olympics in Rio.

In case you're wondering just how fast 9:47 for 3000m is then it's 5m 15s per mile pace with numerous hurdles and water jumps to negotiate.

Kenyan wins Berlin Marathon in 2:04 with his insoles hanging out

One of the big talking points this week across the various running media sites is how Eliud Kipchoge from Kenya won the Berlin Marathon last weekend in a time of 2 hours and 4 minutes despite the fact that the insoles of his shoes came loose from as early as the one mile mark.

These are the six fastest marathon times on record eligible courses.

Fastest Marathoners on Record-Eligible Course: Men
Dennis Kimetto (Kenya)    2:02:57    Berlin, 2014
Emmanuel Mutai (Kenya)    2:03:13    Berlin, 2014
Wilson Kipsang (Kenya)    2:03:23    Berlin, 2013
Patrick Makau (Kenya)    2:03:38    Berlin, 2011
Haile Gebrselassie (Ethiopia)    2:03:59    Berlin, 2008
Eliud Kipchoge (Kenya)    2:04:00    Berlin, 2015

The question that everyone is asking is how fast could Kipchoge have run if he didn't have problems with his shoes? Would he have broken the world record which was 63 seconds faster? After the race, he said...“There are blisters on the left foot and my big toe is cut, with lots of blood”...which certainly suggests that it must have had an impact on his finish time.

As for the shoe, it would seem that it was a special type of prototype racing flat from Nike. Even though it had been 'tested' beforehand, the insoles weren't glued properly and the Kipchoge's powerful forefoot striking and paw-back motion caused the insole to fail and be pushed backwards as early as the first mile. Considering how early it failed, it certainly sounds as if it wasn't tested properly and should have been picked up prior to the race in a short training run.

Lizzie Lee from Cork qualifies for the Rio Olympics after running 2:32 in Berlin Marathon

Lizzie Lee of Leevale AC ran an amazing time of 2:32:51 in the Berlin Marathon on Sunday the 27th of September. Lizzie's previous best was 2:38:09 which she set back in Berlin in Sept 2013 so this is a huge jump.

18     F31     » Lee, Elizabeth (IRL)     W35     Leevale AC         02:32:51     02:32:51 

Lizzie's time of 2:32:51 is the 5th fastest time for an Irish woman which is pretty amazing. To put it into perspective, that's about 5:50 per mile for 26.2 miles.

1    2:22:23    Catriona McKiernan    Amsterdam    1 Nov 1998
2    2:28:07    Carey May        Osaka    27 Jan 1985
3    2:29:01    Sonia O'Sullivan    Flora    London    17 Apr 2005
4    2:31:46    Fionnuala Britton    Zürich    16 Aug 2014
5    2:32:51     Lizzie Lee        Berlin    27 Sep 2015
6    2:32:56    Regina Joyce-Bonney    Scottsdale AZ    4 Dec 1982
7    2:33:28    Nicola Duncan    London    13 Apr 2014
8    2:33:59    Marie Davenport    New York NY    6 Nov 2005
9    2:34:15    Sinead Diver    Melbourne    12 Oct 2014
10    2:34:19    Maria McCambridge    Dublin    27 Oct 2014
11    2:34:49    Monica Joyce        Sacramento CA    2 Dec 1984

The qualifying standard for the Marathon in the 2016 Olympics in Rio is 2:42. The problem with qualifying though is that Ireland can only send three athletes for the women's marathon. For the 2012 Olympics in London, four had the qualifying time but only three could go. It may well happen again that more than three will qualify for Rio but Lizzie's time of 2:32:51 is just over 9 minutes inside the standard. That should mean that Lizzie is almost certain to go to Rio.

Post race intervew...

In the mens event, four got inside the 2:17 qualifying standard.

21     Seaward, Kevin (IRL)     M30     St Malachy's AC         02:14:52     02:14:52 
24     Ciobuna, Sergiu (IRL)     MH                 02:15:14     02:15:14
29     Clohisey, Michael (IRL)     MH     Raheny Shamrock         02:15:35     02:15:35
30     Pollock, Paul (IRL)     MH     Annadale Striders         02:15:38     02:15:38
39     Thornton, Gary (IRL)     M35                 02:17:19     02:17:19 
41     Hehir, Sean (IRL)     M30     Rathfarnham Wsaf Ac     02:17:48     02:17:48
48     Kirwan, Mark (IRL)     M30     Raheny Shamrock Ac     02:19:30     02:19:30
54     Murray, Gary (IRL)     M35     Clonliffe Harriers         02:21:09     02:21:09
55     Hanrahan, Mark (IRL)     M30                 02:21:13     02:21:13
60     Fitzpatrick, Thomas (IRL)     M30     Tallaght AC         02:22:18     02:22:18
96     Hoare, Martin (IRL)     MH     Celbridge Ac         02:26:49     02:26:42
106     Murphy, Brian (IRL)     M30     Iverragh             02:27:05     02:26:59
107     Reed, Declan (IRL)     M40     City Of Derry Spart...     02:27:16     02:27:08

Kenyan Dennis Kimetto sets new marathon record in Berlin

30 year old Dennis Kimetto from Kenya set a new world record of 2h 02m 57s when he won the 2014 Berlin Marathon on Sunday 28th Sept 2014. Emmanuel Mutai who finished in second place in 2h 03:13s also broke the old record of 2h 03m 23s which was set by Wilson Kipsang in 2013. The temperature today was a cool 8 deg C in contrast to other warmer years so conditions were perfect.

Full race....2h 50m long. Finish ~2:12. Commentary in German...


After winning the race, Kimetto said...."I feel good because I won a very tough race. I felt good from the start and in the last few miles I felt I could do it and break the record."

These are the marathon records as they were set over the last 30 years....

2:08:05    Steve Jones     United Kingdom    Oct 21, 1984    Chicago Marathon
2:07:12    Carlos Lopes     Portugal    Apr 20, 1985    Rotterdam Marathon
2:06:50    Belayneh Dinsamo     Ethiopia    Apr 17, 1988    Rotterdam Marathon
2:06:05    Ronaldo da Costa     Brazil    Sept 20, 1998    Berlin Marathon
2:05:42    Khalid Khannouchi     Morocco    Oct 24, 1999    Chicago Marathon
2:05:38    Khalid Khannouchi     United States Apr 14, 2002    London Marathon
2:04:55    Paul Tergat     Kenya    Sept 28, 2003    Berlin Marathon
2:04:26    Haile Gebrselassie     Ethiopia    Sept 30, 2007    Berlin Marathon
2:03:59    Haile Gebrselassie     Ethiopia    Sept 28, 2008    Berlin Marathon
2:03:38    Patrick Makau     Kenya    Sept 25, 2011    Berlin Marathon
2:03:23    Wilson Kipsang     Kenya    Sept 29, 2013    Berlin Marathon
2:02:57   Dennis Kimetto     Kenya    Sept 28 2014    Berlin Marathon

The chart above shows the progression. As you can see, the record is broken by about 20-30 seconds each time and the question now is how long will this new record last?

It will also no doubt raise the question again of whether a sub 2 hour marathon is possible? In this interview, the former record holder Wilson Kipsang said he believes that a sub 2 hour marathon is possible after the record gets into the 2:01 region first...


So is it really possible? The current record of 2:02:57 is 4:41 minute mile pace. A 2 hour marathon would be an incredible 4:34 per mile pace.

By the way, the current half-marathon record is 58:23...4:27 per mile pace.

Wilson Kipsang sets new world record for Marathon in Berlin

Wilson Kipsang of Kenya won this years Berlin Marathon in a time of 2:03:23 setting a new world record for the event.

Fellow Kenyans Eliud Kipchoge (2:04:05) and Geoffrey Kipsang (2:06:26) finished second and third respectively.

Kipsang finishing the marathon with some idiot running onto the course...


In a post race interview, Kipsang said..."I'm very happy that I have won and broken the world record. I was really inspired by Paul Tergat when he broke the world record here 10 years ago and I'm very happy that I was in a position to break the record on the same course."

Marathon record over the last 30 years...
2:08:05    Steve Jones     United Kingdom    Oct 21, 1984    Chicago Marathon
2:07:12    Carlos Lopes     Portugal    Apr 20, 1985    Rotterdam Marathon
2:06:50    Belayneh Dinsamo     Ethiopia    Apr 17, 1988    Rotterdam Marathon
2:06:05    Ronaldo da Costa     Brazil    Sept 20, 1998    Berlin Marathon
2:05:42    Khalid Khannouchi     Morocco    Oct 24, 1999    Chicago Marathon
2:05:38    Khalid Khannouchi     United States Apr 14, 2002    London Marathon
2:04:55    Paul Tergat     Kenya    Sept 28, 2003    Berlin Marathon
2:04:26    Haile Gebrselassie     Ethiopia    Sept 30, 2007    Berlin Marathon
2:03:59    Haile Gebrselassie     Ethiopia    Sept 28, 2008    Berlin Marathon
2:03:38    Patrick Makau     Kenya    Sept 25, 2011    Berlin Marathon
2:03:23    Wilson Kipsang     Kenya    Sept 29, 2013    Berlin Marathon 

Wilson Kipsang finishing with an intruder on the course

Lizzie Lee from Cork finishes 9th at the 2013 Berlin Marathon

The Berlin Marathon with it's 35,000 or so participants is one of the worlds major marathon races. It's flat course attracts runners from all over the world looking to post a fast time.

In the womens race this year, Lizzie Lee from Leevale AC in Cork has just finished in 9th place overall and in third place in the W30 age category.

Lizzie's average pace was 6:02 per mile and as you can see above, most of her 5k splits were between 18:38 and 19:03.

Lizzie's previous best time was 2:46:33 which was set in Rotterdam in April of 2012. Lizzie's new personal best time of 2:38:09 now moves her from 42nd to 16th on the Irish all time list.

Other notable Irish performances in Berlin today...

13    F24  Ganiel, Gladys (IRL)    W35                 02:39:26    02:39:26

22    32  Frazer, Thomas (IRL)    M30    Irland            02:17:45    02:17:45
34    11600  Harty, Philip (IRL)    M35    West Waterford AC            02:21:58    02:21:53

2013 Berlin Marathon sells out in 3.5 hours!

Registration for the 2013 Berlin Marathon opened on Thursday, the 25th of October. Within three and a half hours, all 40,000 places had sold out! Last year, the entries closed in early December. The previous year, it was February.

Controversial end to the 2012 Berlin Marathon...

Last Sunday, the Berlin Marathon was won by Kenyan Geoffrey Mutai in 2h 04m 15s. His compatriot and training partner Dennis Kimetto finished just one second behind in 2h 04m 16s.

The two of them broke free of the other runners around the the 32 km mark. At that stage, they were still on for setting a new world record but slowed in the last 8 kms. Their times however, once verified will be the 4th and 5th fastest Marathon times ever.

There was however some controversy in how they finished the race. With a prize of €50,000 for the winner, they seemed to make no effort to race over the last few hundred metres. They just ran through the Brandenburg Gate and over the finish line with Kimetto just two or three metres behind. There was no kick or sprint for the line, it was almost as if they had a prior arrangement.

See the video clip below from 2:07 onwards and see what you think...

Entries for the 2012 Berlin Marathon closed

Just in case you were thinking about  doing the Berlin Marathon next September, then it's too late as all 40,000 entries have been filled. Registration had opened on the 20th of October and this is a record for it closing so early. Last year, it was February before the entries closed.

Patrick Makau sets new Marathon record of 2:03:38

Kenyan Patrick Makau won the 2011 Berlin Marathon on Sunday, the 25th of Sept. His time of two hours, three minutes and 38 seconds was 21 seconds faster than the record set by Haile Gebrselassie on the same course back in 2008.

"In the morning my body was not good but, after I started the race, it started reacting very well. I started thinking about the record. I didn't have any problems in the race. Last year I had some problems with my soles inside my shoe, but today everything went very well." said Makau.

The previous record Haile Gebrselassie failed to finish having experienced apparent stomach problems around the 27km mark.

GEBRSELASSIE'S RECORD AT BERLIN MARATHON
2006 - First in 2:05.56 (fastest time of year)
2007 - First in 2:04.26 (world record)
2008 - First in 2:03.59 (world record)
2009 - First in 2:06.08
2010 - Did not compete
"Gebrselassie, the 38-year-old double Olympic champion at 10,000m, had also been looking to post a fast time and ease the pressure on him to qualify for the Games ahead of strong Ethiopian rivals.
But he found himself forced to step off the road midway through the race as Makau, sensing the Ethiopian great was struggling, upped the pace"....BBC News
Just to give you some idea of the pace, a 2:03:38 Marathon is an average of 4:43 minutes per mile or 2:56 minutes per km.

Haile Gebrselassie of Ethiopia sets new Marathon record...
The Berlin Marathon was on today and Haile Gebrselassie of Ethiopia won it in a time of 2 hours 3 minutes and 59 seconds which was a new world record time. Before you get out those calculators, that is an average speed of 4m 44s per mile!! Incredible. Here is a short video clip...(in German!!)



You can find a shorter English version at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_Yk1xeSLRk

...and by the way, considering that there has been a big debate going on here recently on this blog regarding prizes for men over 35, Gebrselaisse is currently 35 years old.