The Entire Marathon Career of Eliud Kipchoge

After a track career that included a world championship at 5,000 meters and two Olympic medals in the distance, Kipchoge converted to road racing in 2012. He began his marathon career, appropriately enough, with a win, and a resounding one at that—second place was more than two minutes behind.

For his second marathon, Kipchoge chose Berlin, the site of much future greatness. He finished second in a then-PR of 2:04:05 behind a world record of 2:03:23 by Wilson Kipsang. It was to be his only defeat in the marathon for seven years.

Another easy win—second place was more than a minute back—gave Kipchoge a little more experience before he became a fixture at the world’s highest-profile marathons.

Kipchoge won his first World Marathon Major title in his first road race in the United States. After this race, there was no doubting his alpha status at whatever marathon he ran.

In the first of his three London victories, Kipchoge furthered his claim to being the world’s best male marathoner by beating the two most recent holders of the world record.

What a flop—for his shoes, that is. Running in a Nike prototype, Kipchoge lost any chance at breaking the world record when the insoles of his shoes came loose in the first 10K. Kipchoge ran the bulk of the race with the insoles perpendicular to his feet. Setting a PR under these conditions probably added to his aura of invincibility more than breaking the world record would have.

Another London appearance, another dominant win for Kipchoge, this time in a course record.

In one of the most nonchalant Olympic victories in history, Kipchoge took a solo lead seemingly at will after 20 miles and gapped runner-up Feyisa Lilesa by 70 seconds over the final 10K.

Kipchoge was the star of this three-man exhibition around an auto-racing track. Following a car and a rotating cast of pacers, Kipchoge came up a little short of the event’s goal of a sub-2:00 marathon. His time was the fastest then run under any conditions for a marathon, but didn’t count for world-record purposes.

Warm, muggy conditions scotched any attempt at the official world record, so Kipchoge had to be content with “just” another World Marathon Major win.

Another hot day meant no go at the world record and simply dominating a world-class field

Finally, ideal weather gave Kipchoge the chance to break the official world record. And break it he did, taking 1:18 off the previous mark, for the biggest such margin in 41 years.

By this point, Kipchoge had become otherworldly. Setting the London course in a time that only one other marathoner had surpassed was seen as just another day at the office.

Kipchoge did what many people said was impossible—run a marathon in under two hours. He averaged 4:33.9 per mile for 26.2 miles. But his time was ineligible for the world record because of rotating groups of pacers and other deviations from standards for road records.

Kipchoge showed a rare touch of vulnerability in his first loss since 2013 and the worst placing of his marathon career. Kipchoge attributed the off day to a head cold. Others wondered if Kipchoge, a month shy of his 36th birthday, had finally started to lose his race with Father Time.

With mass events still on hold, Kipchoge’s management team put together an elite-only marathon at a XXX in Holland. Kipchoge won easily. The race served as a confidence booster after the previous fall’s rare defeat and as a tune-up for Kipchoge’s Olympic title defense four months later.

Well, so much for Kipchoge starting to slip. He became only the third person to successfully defend an Olympic marathon title. His winning margin of 1:20 was the largest in an Olympic marathon since 1960.

After the Olympics, Kipchoge said that he wanted to win all six of the World Marathon Majors. He got his fourth title in his first go at Tokyo, and set the course record in the process.

Some speculated Kipchoge would run New York City to cross off another World Marathon Major win. But when he announced he would instead return to Berlin, that meant one thing—he would try to break his own world record. And he did, by 30 seconds, reviving talk of a sub-2:00 marathon in a record-eligible race.

Eliud Kipchoge placed sixth at the 2023 Boston Marathon in 2:09:23, more than three minutes behind winner Evans Chebet of Kenya. After setting the pace through the first 19 miles, Kipchoge lost contact with the leaders and could not recover.