Eliud Kipchoge's greatest challenge? The mission to set course records in all six World Marathon Majors
With three down and three to go, Kipchoge’s quest to break the course record in every marathon major is in full swing. Starting with the Boston Marathon on 17 April, Olympics.com breaks down just what the world record holder needs to do to become a Six Star record breaker.
Athletics
Many people dream of finishing just one World Marathon Major but a select few have the ambition and determination to run all six.
And then there’s Eliud Kipchoge.
The single greatest marathon runner of all time has a goal all of his own - to set the course record in every single last one of them.
For those who don’t know, the six Marathon Majors are the annual 42.195km-long races that take place in Tokyo, Boston, London, Berlin, Chicago and New York City, and the 10,000 or so people who have run all of them receive the prestigious and much-coveted Six Star Medal.
But nobody in the history of running has ever won all six - let alone owned every course record.
Kipchoge, however, is no average human being.
The 38-year-old Kenyan superstar is currently in possession of three Marathon Major course records and is aiming for a fourth at the Boston Marathon on 17 April.
What does he need to do to achieve all six? Which athletes stand in the way of his quest for Marathon Major immortality? Find out all that and more below.
Eliud Kipchoge: Three down, three to go
“I want to not only compete in all six but to do so and win. These are two different targets. What’s more, I have added another challenge of getting course records for the other half of the races,” Kipchoge said in a recent interview with NN Running Team, setting out a new goal for an athlete who has achieved almost every target put in front of him.
Already a two-time Olympic champion, reigning world record holder and the only man to run a marathon in under two hours, it would be easy to forgive Kipchoge for wanting to rest on his considerable laurels after a career in which he has won 15 of the 17 marathons he has run.
But the man who is a living personification of his catchphrase “No human is limited” is on a mission to change the face of history by winning the six most prestigious marathon races on the planet in record time.
He currently owns the course record in three marathons, London (2:02:37) set in 2019, Tokyo (2:02:40) set in 2022 and Berlin, the current world record of 2:01:09 also set in 2022.
That leaves three left on his bucket list, starting with the Boston Marathon, which takes place on 17 April 2023.
How a Boston Marathon replica is aiding Kipchoge's quest for Marathon Major immortality
If you’re training for marathon greatness, you can’t leave any stone unturned.
For Kipchoge’s quest to add a fourth Marathon Major course record to his resume, this has meant training on what he calls ‘The Boston Route’, a 40km course in his native Kenya that replicates the tough hills he will face when he competes in the capital of Massachusetts in April.
One thing he can’t imitate are the conditions and temperatures he will face on the day - they’re just too unpredictable to guess.
But the Kenyan is confident that - come rain or shine - he can handle whatever is thrown at him.
"Berlin and Boston are two different races on different continents. Berlin is a flat course. Boston on the other hand, is uphill and needs a lot of patience and hard work to go through," he said.
"Boston is unpredictable and sometimes the weather is challenging but I am trying to be all-rounded."
To beat the Boston Marathon course record, Kipchoge will need to come home faster than the 2:03:02 that his compatriot Geoffrey Mutai set in 2011.
It’s a time he has bettered four times in his career, twice in Berlin (2022, 2018), once in London (2019) and once in Tokyo (2022).
But with the Boston course’s unique difficulty (a recent study called it the slowest of all the Marathon Majors), Kipchoge is aware that he will need to be at his very best to achieve the record.
“This is another challenge, it’s like a championship where one needs to win and get the gold medal,” said the Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 Olympic champion.
How can Eliud Kipchoge become a Six Star World Marathon Major record breaker?
Should Kipchoge achieve his course record goal in Boston, only two more marathons stand in the way: New York City and Chicago.
Once again, the New York City Marathon’s course record belongs to Mutai, who set a best of 2:05:06 in 2011 - the same year he broke the course record in Boston.
Kipchoge has never taken on the challenge of New York but could have the chance as soon as this year, with the race scheduled to take place in November.
The only other race he would need to master is the one major he has competed in but doesn’t hold the course record: Chicago.
Kipchoge was victorious in the 2014 Chicago Marathon, coming home in a time of 2:04:11, but that wasn’t enough to see him break the current record set by Dennis Kimetto in 2013.
2:03:45 is the time to beat - a mark Kipchoge has since surpassed on six occasions. And with two of the seemingly indefatigable athlete’s four-best times coming in the past year, his Chicago goal seems well within his reach.