Eliud Kipchoge targeting Boston victory in marathon quest
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The undisputed Kenyan king of marathon running has never run Boston.
PHOTO: AFP
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BOSTON – Eliud Kipchoge will aim to move one step closer to his dream of winning all six World Marathon Majors on Monday when he makes his long-awaited Boston Marathon debut, as the famous race marks the 10th anniversary of the 2013 bombing that left three people dead.
The undisputed Kenyan king of marathon running has never run Boston – the world’s oldest annual marathon first held in 1897 – but is tackling the hilly course for the first time as part of a bid to complete his set of major victories.
The 38-year-old two-time Olympic marathon champion and world record holder has won the Berlin, Tokyo, London and Chicago marathons in his glittering career, leaving just Boston and New York as the only gaps on his CV.
He aims to fill one of those holes on Monday, but the only man to run a sub two-hour marathon distance has also played down suggestions that he is planning to take a crack at the Boston course record of 2hr 3min 2sec set by compatriot Geoffrey Mutai in 2011.
“I’m targeting the win,” he said, when asked if he was aiming for the record.
Kipchoge has visited parts of the course and is unfazed by the undulating nature of the Boston terrain.
The course makes a significant drop in the opening four miles, features a sharp climb between the 16th and 21st before another descent to the finish.
“I just ran it in my mind,” he said, of the course. “It’s a very good course. The hills are there, they are good.”
Kipchoge added he does not consider his age to be a factor, maintaining that he feels just as fresh in training as he did earlier in his career.
“The challenge is just the training,” he said.
“If my muscles can handle the training, I don’t think about age. I know my age is coming and one day I’ll quit – and that’s okay.
“But I don’t concentrate on anything about age. I’m doing the programme provided by my coach.”
Kipchoge has been nearly unbeatable over the years – winning an incredible 15 of the 17 marathons he has entered – but he will likely face stiff competition in a Boston field that includes five of the six World Major Marathon winners from 2022.
Leading the challengers are compatriots Evans Chebet, the reigning Boston and New York Marathon champion, and Benson Kipruto, the 2021 Boston champion who is also brimming with confidence after a victory in last October’s Chicago Marathon.
Monday’s race takes place 10 years after the bombing near the finishing line that left three people dead and nearly 300 injured on April 15, 2013.
Boston Red Sox baseball icon David Ortiz – who famously gave a defiant rallying speech at Fenway Park in the aftermath of the atrocity – will serve as the Grand Marshal for the race.
The bulk of the commemorative events in Boston took place on Saturday, on the formal anniversary of the bombing, with a memorial service at a new commemorative finishing line at Boylston Street in downtown Boston.
The Boston bombing was carried out by two Chechen-Kyrgyzstani Americans, Dzhokhar “Jahar” Tsarnaev and his older brother Tamerlan Tsarnaev.
Tamerlan was killed following a shoot-out with police while Dzhokhar was captured and later sentenced to death after conviction at trial. AFP
