FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Eliud Kipchoge and Wilson Kipsang set sights on Record Chase
at BMW BERLIN-MARATHON
Two outstanding athletes from Kenya face each other in the 45th edition of
the BMW BERLIN-MARATHON on Sunday when Eliud Kipchoge and Wilson Kipsang
meet for the third round of their rivalry in the fastest marathon in the
world. Kipchoge's best of 2:03:05 is only eight seconds slower than the
current world record and Kipsang has done his share of record breaking,
since he ran his best of 2:03:13 to break the then world record and win
Berlin in 2013. Kipchoge against Kipsang in the marathon is like Lionel
Messi versus Cristiano Ronaldo in football or Rafael Nadal and Roger
Federer in tennis.
Eliud Kipchoge's aim on Sunday is to break his personal best and attack the
world record while Wilson Kipsang is equally primed for a record chase. So
far the score in their Berlin rivalry stands level at 1-1. Kipsang took an
early lead by beating Kipchoge here in 2013 but the Olympic champion hit
back to win the Berlin title last year.
As a reflection of the race's international attraction, 133 countries will
be represented among the 44,389 participants. This is a record entry
figure. The BMW BERLIN-MARATHON is an IAAF Gold Label Road Race and part of
the Abbott World Marathon Majors Series (AWMM) which also comprises Tokyo,
Boston, London, Chicago and New York.. The new series, the 12th edition, of
the AWMM begins in Berlin on Sunday and will also conclude with the 46th
edition of the BMW BERLIN-MARATHON next September.
Then men's marathon in Berlin has become a yardstick for performances at
the distance worldwide. Over the past 15 years in September its flat course
has been the stage for half a dozen world records. Since 2003 no other
marathon has produced a men's world record. For good measure, the world's
fastest time for the year by a man has been run at every BMW
BERLIN-MARATHON since 2011. The current world best time for the year is the
2:04:00 by the Ethiopian Mosinet Geremew, set in Dubai in January. The
world record stands at 2:02:57 by Kenya's Dennis Kimetto to win Berlin four
years ago.
Eliud Kipchoge held back slightly when it came to Friday's press conference
and talk of a world record attempt: "After winning in London in April I
concentrated on preparations for Berlin and can assure you that I shall run
well on Sunday. I want to improve my personal best," said the man who has
won all but one of his eleven marathons and is regarded by many as the best
ever at the distance.. Breaking the world record on Sunday would clearly
strengthen his status still further. When pressed further about world
record possibilities, Kipchoge simply responded: "Yes, it would of course
be very good if I could run that."
Perhaps the reason for his reluctance to commit fully in public is caused
by two previous world record attempts in Berlin where the 33-year-old had
bad luck. In 2015 his shoe insoles came lose and, despite being in pain, he
still won in 2:04:00. A year ago bad weather put paid to the world record
attempt as Kipchoge set a "Rain World Record" to win in 2:03:32. No athlete
had ever run a marathon so fast in such conditions. Kipchoge showed he can
run faster than 2:02:57 when he clocked 2:00:25 last year in Monza, albeit
the race did not conform with international regulations.
The only man to have beaten Eliud Kipchoge in the marathon is Wilson
Kipsang and that was in 2013. Kipsang broke the world record in that Berlin
race with 2:03:13. The 36-year-old has plenty of experience and achieved
consistently world class performances over many years, breaking 2:04 on
four occasions - a total Kipchoge has not yet matched.
Wilson Kipsang plans to run more cautiously than Kipchoge on Sunday: "I
want to run similarly to my world record in 2013. I ran the second half
faster than the first then. This Sunday I want to reach halfway in
61:30,"said Kipsang, who dropped out of Berlin last year at 30km.
Among those likely to be in the chasing group with Kipsang is the world
record holder for the half marathon, Zersenay Tadese of Eritrea. "I want to
set a personal best on Sunday," said Tadese, whose best stands at 2:10:41.
The top 12 contenders and PBs
MEN
Eliud Kipchoge KEN 2:03:05
Wilson Kipsang KEN 2:03:13
Eliud Kiptanui KEN 2:05:21
Amos Kipruto KEN 2:05:43
Abera Kuma ETH 2:05:50
Arata Fujiwara JPN 2:07:48
Yuki Sato JPN 2:08:58
Daisuke Uekado JPN 2:09:27
Kohei Ogino JPN 2:09:36
Kenta Murayama JPN 2:09:50
Daichi Kamino JPN 2:10:18
Zersenay Tadese ERI 2:10:41
Shogo Nakamura JPN 2:10:51
Scott Overall GBR 2:10:55
Julius Ndiritu KEN 2:11:21
Fernando Cabada USA 2:11:36
Chalachew Tiruneh KEN 2:11:54
Saidi Juma Makula TAN 2:12:01
Race Statistics
44,389 Runners
5,258 Inline Skaters
180 Handbikers
63 Wheelchair athletes
49,890 Marathon entries (total) from 133 nations
Media schedule
Press Conferences, media office and media centre are situated in the Hotel
InterContinental Budapester Str. 2, 10787 Berlin
Fryday, September 14, 5:30 p.m., Photo call, Start of the Abbott World
Marathon Majors Series XII
With: Eliud Kipchoge, Edna Kiplagat (both Kenia), Marcel Hug und Manuela
Schär (both Switzerland), Tim Hadzima (AbbottWMM), Gerald Asamoah, Mark
Milde
Friday, September 14, 6:30 p.m., Photo call, Meet the stars
Presentation of the Elite runners. With: Eliud Kipchoge, Wilson Kipsang,
Zersenay Tadese, Tirunesh Dibaba, Edna Kiplagat und Gladys Cherono. In
Addition: Presentation of a new Hall of Fame member: Ronaldo Da Costa
(Winner 1998 BERLIN-MARATHON and former WR holder). Selected Guinness World
Records applicants with costumes will be presented too.
Hall of Fame, Brandenburg Gate
Saturday, September 15, 9.30 a.m., GENERALI BREAKFAST RUN at the BMW
BERLIN-MARATHON 2018
With wanton mood approximately 11,000 runners will start at 9:30 am from
the Schloss Charlottenburg towards the Olympiastadion.
Saturday, September 15, 3.10 p.m., mini-MARATHON of school kids
4.2195 km, Start: Potsdamer Straße, Finish: Straße des 17. Juni
Largest school kids run in Germany 10,000 runners (30th edition)
Saturday, September 15, 3.30 p.m,, BMW BERLIN-MARATHON Inline Skating
Start: Straße des 17. Juni
Largest Inline Skating marathon in the world
Saturday, September 15, 3.30 p.m, Press conference
Winner of the 2018 BMW BERLIN-MARATHON Inlineskating
Sunday, September 16, from 8.45 a.m. 45th BMW BERLIN-MARATHON
Various starts, Overview here
Sunday, September 16, 12.30 p.m., Press conference
Winner of the 2018 BMW BERLIN-MARATHON
Running
Wheelchair athletes
Handbikers
Media Guide Online
The Media Guide of the BMW BERLIN-MARATHON contains info and statistics
including potraits of elite runners.
About the BMW BERLIN-MARATHON
The BMW BERLIN-MARATHON is part of the Abbott World Marathon Majors (AWMM),
the group of six leading marathons in the world which was founded in 2006.
They comprise Tokyo, Boston, London, Berlin, Chicago and New York. The
winners and leading finishers at the six AWMM races earn points according
to their positions which culminate in an overall men's and women's winner
at the end of a one-year-cycle.
The prize money for the winners amounts to US$ 250,000 each. Since 2016 the
series has also included wheelchair athletes. An age group category for
mass runners has now been added with a points system to decide men's and
women's winners. Series XII begins with the BMW BERLIN-MARATHON 2018 and
will end with the Berlin race in 2019. Further information about the
scoring system for elite and mass competitors can be found at:
www.worldmarathonmajors.com
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