The Chicago Marathon celebrated one year since Kenyan sensation Kelvin Kiptum ran an incredible race to break the world marathon record in stunning fashion.
Chicago Marathon is marking one year since witnessing one of the most incredible performances on the course since the event began in 1977.
World records have been broken in Chicago six times but the last one was one for the ages.
It involved Kenyan sensation Kelvin Kiptum whom at just 23, was showing remarkable consistency and performances never witnessed before.
Kiptum set a new world record of 2:00:35, becoming the first man to run an official marathon under 2:01, and slicing 34 seconds off compatriot Eliud Kipchoge’s then world record of set in Berlin in 2022, while also obliterating the course record by more than three minutes.
He recorded a negative split, running the first half of the marathon in 60:48, and the second half at 59:47. This, coming after he had run 2:01:25 in London the same year, the second fastest in history at the time, put him in a class of his own.
Kiptum was preparing to become the first man to ran an official marathon under two hours at the Rotterdam Marathon in April this year before he met his untimely death in tragic fashion, following a road accident that killed him and his coach in February.
While the world still comes to terms with his demise, the events of October 8, 2023 on the streets of Chicago have formed part of marathon history and it is hard to see when such a performance will be repeated.
The 2024 edition of the Chicago Marathon will take place on Sunday, when Kiptum will be honoured before the race, and those lining up have a hard act to follow following this once in a lifetime achievement.
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