It staggers the mind, but the men’s world record in the marathon has dipped below 2:03 for the first time in history. That momentous breakthrough occurred Sun., Sept. 28, when 30-year-old Dennis Kimetto of Kenya won the BMW Berlin Marathon in 2:02:57!

Kimetto, who ran his first marathon only two years ago, is a farmer by background and his diet reportedly features a lot of yams. He pulled away from his countryman Emmanuel Mutai, who’s also 30 years of age, over the last four kilometers in a negative-split effort which saw Kimetto run the last half of the race in 1:01:12 after the pacesetters had run the first half in 1:01:45. 

It had been Mutai who actually set it up for Kimetto to run his awesome time as he pushed the pace aggressively after the rabbits in the race had dropped out at 30 kilometers. And Mutai, it should be noted, was in no way playing the role of rabbit for anyone as he burned up the Berlin roadway looking like a man intent on winning and breaking the 2:03 barrier himself. His courageous effort not only contributed to a new world record for Kimetto, but his time of 2:03:13 in finishing second was also well under the previous world record of 2:03:23 set last year in Berlin by Kenya’s Wilson Kipsang.

This was the fifth men’s world marathon record set in Berlin in the last eight years, and if you’re wondering what’s happening here, consider how it was summed up by one expert on road racing: “The course is flat, they have specially selected rabbits to set the selected pace, the best African marathoners are entered, so for all intents and purposes the Berlin Marathon each year has become a time trial to break the existing world record.” It’s hard to argue with that logic, all things considered – eight years, five world records.

Dennis Kimetto’s record run on Sunday was also the fastest marathon ever recorded under any conditions or on any type of course, surpassing the 2:03:02 run by Geoffrey Mutai (no relation to Emmanuel) in Boston three years ago. Times run at Boston are not eligible for world record consideration due to the elevation drop on the course.

The world record was the objective at Berlin on Sunday right from the start, but the race rabbits and the six racers in the lead group hit the halfway point in only 1:01:45, which is 2:03:30 pace (obviously, we use the word “only” as a figure of speech). This meant that if the world record was to fall, the person who broke it would have to run the second half significantly faster than the first half – in other words, he’d have to run the race in a negative-split fashion.

Around 19 kilometers World Marathon Majors leader Tesfaye Kebede of Ethiopia dropped off the pace, which left the three Kenyan favorites, Kimetto, Mutai and Geoffrey Kamworor, plus another Kenyan, Franklin Chepkwony (third in Boston this year) and Ethiopian Aberu Kuma, at the front, following the aforementioned rabbits.

Those five stayed together through 30 kilometers, the pace having increased slightly, and at that point the rabbits exited stage left, their work done for the day and the race for first, with a world record hopefully waiting at the end of it all, about to begin.

It was Mutai who surged in front right after 30 kilometers and briefly opened a gap as the field strung out behind him. Only Kimetto and Kamworor could stay within range of him.

To break Wilson Kipsang’s record, it was necessary to average 2:55 per kilometer the whole way. Now, with Mutai having made his bold move, the leaders were running sub-2:50 for the first time in the race. Mutai ran the 31^st kilometer in 2:47, the 32^nd in 2:46, yet despite this increase in speed, Kimetto and Kamworor were able to get back on terms with him. Then Kimetto went in front. All three Kenyans were now ahead of world record pace.

After a 2:52 33^rd kilometer, the leaders ran the 34^th kilometer in 2:48. That dropped Kamworor, who would ultimately pay the price for staying at the front so long as he ultimately faded back to fourth at the end.

At 35 kilometers it was down to a two-man race between Kimetto and Mutai, and a sub-2:03 was a distinct possibility. Kipsang’s record of 2:03:23 was clearly in trouble.

The two Kenyans remained together until 38 kilometers, when Kimetto opened a slight gap. That gap had grown to seven seconds by 40 kilometers, even though Kimetto had run the 40^th kilometer in 3:00, one of only three 3:00+ kilometers in the entire race. The question now was – could Kimetto hold it together well enough to break 2:03?

The answer is – he could and he did! Needing to average 2:58 per kilometer to accomplish that historic feat, he increased his pace to 2:57 in the 41^st kilometer, ran the 42^nd kilometer in 2:55 and finished in his new world record time of 2:02:57.

The courageous Mutai wasn’t far behind, finishing in 2:03:13, which was 10 seconds under the previous record.

Ethiopia’s Abera Kuma, who had followed a more conservative strategy, was able to run the last two kilometers 70 seconds faster than the fading Geoffrey Kamworor. As a result, he finished third in 2:05:56, with Kamworor ending up fourth in 2:06:39. For Kamworor, Berlin turned out to be a true crash and burn scenario – remember, at 34 kilometers he had still been with Kimetto and Mutai, with all three of them under world record pace. Kenya’s Eliud Kiptanui was fifth in 2:07:28.

The first American finisher was Fernando Cabada, who came home 11^th in 2:11:36, an improvement of 17 seconds on his previous personal best of 2:11:53 when he finished seventh in the 2012 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials. Cabada went out in 65:12 at Berlin, which put him in a position to break 2:10, his longtime goal. He fell short, but his time ranks him as the fourth fastest American in the marathon this year, behind Meb Keflizighi (2:08:37), Jeff Eggleston (2:10:52) and Ryan Vail (2:10:57).

Dennis Kimetto, who averaged an amazing 4:41.5 per mile in his historic run in Berlin, has reportedly been training seriously for only four years. In his first marathon, at Berlin two years ago, he ran 2:04:16, which remains the fastest marathon debut in history. He subsequently set a course record in Tokyo, set another course record last year in winning the Chicago Marathon, where Emmanuel Mutai was also the runner-up, and now comes his run for the ages in Berlin.

Clearly, Dennis Kimetto is a superlative distance runner, and his victory in Berlin not only puts him in the history books, but it was extremely lucrative as well. Considering he got 50,000 euros for the win, 30,000 euros for breaking 2:04 and 50,000 euros for his world record, his Berlin victory and world record is worth approximately $154,000 to him. Also, with his win in Berlin, he moved to the top of the World Marathon Majors point standings and will pocket another $500,000 at year’s end unless Wilson Kipsang, winner of this year’s London Marathon and the previous marathon world recordholder, wins the upcoming New York City Marathon. Thus, if Kimetto were to ultimately win that $500,000 for posting the top point total in the World Marathon Majors, his victory in Berlin could ultimately translate to a whopping $640,000 payoff!

Following his victory in Berlin, Kimetto said, “I feel good today for today is a big day for me. The fans made me confident (at the end) and I thought I could do it. From what I saw today, times are coming down and down. So if not (a new record) today, then tomorrow. Maybe next time we’ll get 2:01.”

With all due respect, it’s almost a certainty Kimetto would not have broken 2:03 if Emmanuel Mutai hadn’t run so aggressively after the rabbits dropped out at 30 kilometers in the race.

For his part, Mutai said after the race, “I feel good for (what) I achieved today. The race was a bit tough, but, you know, I was fighting, and the better man won. We tried to push it, so we achieved what we achieved.”

In the women’s race in Berlin, Ethiopians dominated, finishing first, second, fourth and fifth – with America’s preeminent female marathoner Shalane Flanagan, who was hopeful of bettering Deena Kastor’s American record, wedging herself in between the Ethiopians to finish third.

Tirfi Tsegaye, 29, of Ethiopia won in 2:20:18 after a race-long battle with her countrywoman Feyse Tadese, 25, who finished second in 2:20:27.

Shalane Flanagan, who’s now training at Mammoth Lakes, Calif., finished third in 2:21:14, a wonderful time but well short of Kastor’s American record of 2:19:36 set in London in 2006.

A few days before the Berlin race, Flanagan had said, “Either you’re trying to win the marathon or you’re trying to run the record. If a by-product of the record is a win, that would be fabulous. But I’m going to do everything I can to get the record. This is purely about seeing how fast I can run over that distance. I think if I start to try and win, that could compromise the (time).”

Flanagan, whose previous personal best had been 2:22:02, set while finishing seventh in this year’s Boston Marathon, was never in the hunt for first place in the women’s race in Berlin, and, in fact, she had to pass Ethiopia’s Tadelich Bekele, 23, in the latter part of the race to take third. Bekele finished fourth in 2:23:02 and another Ethiopian, Abedech Afework, 23, was fifth in 2:25:02.

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