Is This The Time For Kipchoge To Break The World Marathon Record?

NAIROBI, Kenya- In his time honoured fashion, world number one marathoner, Eliud Kipchoge, 33, gave little away ahead of what is touted as his latest attempt to own the world record over the classic distance when he puts his BMW Berlin World Marathon on the line on Sunday.

Next to Kipchoge in the elite men starting line up will be former world marathon record holder and compatriot, Wilson Kipsang, the only man who holds the distinction of taking Kipchoge to the altar over the gruelling 42.195km race in 10 outings.

To understand what it took to beat the Olympic champion who is the undisputed king of the distance he started running in 2013, Kipsang uncorked a 2:03:23 world record at the same Berlin course that year to force Kipchoge (2:04:05) to accept the silver medal.

When the feared Kenyan pair next met at the 2016 London Marathon, Kipchoge levelled the scores when he sped to victory in 2:03:05, faster than Kipsang (2:07:52) who finished down the order in fifth has ever run.

That winning time that stands as Kipchoge’s marathon career best is only eight seconds shy of the coveted world record that was lowered to 2:02:57 by Kipsang’s former training partner, Dennis Kimetto at the German capital in 2014.

Kipchoge has always been hesitant to talk about breaking the world record and in the run up to Sunday, has stuck true to form.

"Training has been going well. This year, I'm not talking about the world record but I'm thinking about a personal best.

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"There's not much that is different of what I’m doing. Still with the same program. Still the same coach. Still the same training area," Kipchoge told Sport Illustrated.

On Monday, Kipchoge posted to his 51.2K followers on Twitter, Do you think I will beat my personal best at the @berlinmarathon this Sunday? Inviting his fans to make their predictions for the chance to win an autographed gift bag from his NN Running Team.

In mirroring his wish not to lay all his cards on the table, the winner of the poll will be announced on NN Running Facebook page after the race of Sunday when the world will either have crowned a new world marathon record holder or not.

On his previous two victories in Berlin, a loose instep in his specially designed Nike shoe in the 2015 edition where he ran 2:04:00 and bad weather last year where he stopped the timer at a commendable 2:03:32 put paid his hopes of lowering the standard having ran huge parts of the races inside the world record.

No one doubts that Kipchoge can ran faster than his lifetime best and he notably came within 25 seconds of being the first man to go the distance under two hours in the lab-conditions organised May 6, 2016 Nike Breaking2 event at the Monza Formula 1 circuit in Italy.

However, how this translates to achieving his aim of being recognised as the standard bearer at the distance depends on other factors beyond control, chief among them, weather conditions.

In the corresponding women’s race Tirunesh Dibaba, arguably the greatest female distance runner in history will be making her debut in Berlin where she will be hoping to dethrone Kenyan Gladys Cherono from the throne.

Evergreen two-time world champion Edna Kiplagat is the other force in Sunday’s showdown around the streets of the German capital.

The key factor in her choice of race venue is Berlin’s well-proven ability to offer a platform for super-fast performances.

If conditions are favourable, the Ethiopian might well attack the world record, set by Britain’s Paula Radcliffe in 2002 with 2:15:25 in London.

Dibaba is Ethiopia’s national record holder with 2:17:56 that is a big margin to make up, yet she has the pedigree of three Olympic gold medals in long distance track events to make any challenge credible.