Once again Kenyan distance runners placed the country on the world’s sporting limelight, with the 2019 world marathon champion Ruth Chepng’etich and John Korir sweeping to victory at the Chicago Marathon on Sunday.
This year’s Chicago Marathon will remain special in many ways not only to the country but the world of athletics.
Not only did the phenomenal Chepng’etich dominate the race to set a new women’s marathon world record in two hours, nine minutes and 56 seconds, but also became the first woman to run a marathon in under 2 hours and 10 minutes.
Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa held the previous record of 2:11:53 from her victory at the 2023 Berlin Marathon.
It was also heartwarming to see Chepng’etich make history as the first woman to win the Chicago Marathon thrice. The 30-year-old dedicated her performance to the late Kelvin Kiptum. Korir, who ensured that Kenya retained the men’s title in honour of Kiptum, won in the sixth fastest time in history.
Kiptum broke the men’s world record a year ago in Chicago with a time of 2:00:35. He died in a car crash on February 11 this year, four months after his exploits. Even though this isn’t the first time a Kenyan woman has broken the world record, Chepng’etich’s performance is an inspiration to others.
Chepng’etich drew inspiration from Kiptum, who had made history as the first man to run a marathon in under 2 hours and one minute and had planned to run the course in under two hours in April 13 this year, before he died in a car crash.
It’s all about testing the human limit, an inspiring journey started by former marathon record holder Eliud Kipchoge, who ran 1:59:40 in an unofficial 2019 INEOS 1:59 Challenge in Vienna, Austria.
As we celebrate and congratulate Chepng’etich and Korir for their performances, we call on Kenyan athletes to continue running clean, devoid of performance enhancing substances.
