He doesn’t hold the world record – yet! – but Eliud Kipchoge won the Virgin London Marathon, Sun., April 26, in 2:04:42, beating the former world marathon record holder Wilson Kipsang, who was second, and the current world record holder Dennis Kimetto, who finished third.

This year’s London Marathon was considered perhaps the greatest marathon confrontation of all time because Kenya’s Fabulous Four – Dennis Kimetto, Wilson Kipsang, Patrick Makau and Geoffrey Mutai – were all scheduled to run. All had run 2:03:35 or better! Who among these four would win this battle royal?

Not so fast! With all due respect to these super runners and the awesome times they’ve run, there was one Eliud Kipchoge who deserved due consideration for bringing to the marathon something probably no one else ever has: He’s forged a brilliant marathon career after being an Olympic medalist – twice! – in the 5000 meters. In other words, there’s never been anyone like him at the top level in the marathon.

How talented is Eliud Kipchoge? Well, think of it this way: He won the 5000 meters in the 2003 World Track and Field Championships when he was only 18! He won an Olympic bronze medal in the 5000 in 2004 and the silver medal in 2008. He’s run the 1500 in 3:33, which is equivalent to a 3:50 mile. In 2012 he beat Mo Farah indoors over two miles in 8:07.39 (Farah ran 8:08.07).

And since Eliud Kipchoge turned to road racing in 2012 after failing to make his third consecutive Kenyan Olympic team, the results have been impressive to say the least. He finished third in his half-marathon debut, running 59:25. Later in 2012 he placed sixth in the IAAF World Half-Marathon Championships.

Of course, the marathon is now proving to be perhaps this great runner’s most impressive event! Making his marathon debut in April 2013, he won the Hamburg Marathon in 2:05:30, winning by more than two minutes and setting a new course record. Then he ran the Berlin Marathon that fall, hoping that he could improve on that 2:05:30. He not only did that, running 2:04:05, but finished second to Wilson Kipsang, who set a new world marathon record that day of 2:03:23.

Thus, while the running world was extolling the virtues of the new world record holder, Kipsang, there was Eliud Kipchoge, sitting just outside the spotlight, atop a trunkful of career accomplishments, which now included fifth fastest marathoner in history after only two efforts over the distance. So you see that when Kenya’s Fabulous Four marathoners all entered the London Marathon, Eliud Kipchoge was in perfect position to tip over the apple cart. Talk about a talented runner – there’s never been a more talented runner in the marathon! 

The early pace in the men’s race in the London Marathon was lightning fast – 14:31 for the first 5K, which is 2:03 pace. But then the pace slowed and became erratic. Although the London course is flat, its narrow, twisting turns and the blustery conditions on Sunday made it unlikely Dennis Kimetto’s 2:02:57 world record would be threatened – and it wasn’t.

As it always does, the group at the front dwindled down in size as the race went on. Geoffrey Mutai dropped out along the way, Patrick Makau never started.

By 19 miles the lead group was down to five – four Kenyans and an Ethiopian. With four miles to go, it was down to four, all Kenyans, all seasoned competitors – Wilson Kipsang, 33, Dennis Kimetto, 31, Eliud Kipchoge, 31, and Stanley Biwott, 29.

Passing through a tunnel between miles 23 and 24, the four had become two as Kipsang and Kipchoge had opened a 35-meter gap on Kimetto, with Biwott still further back. So it had come down to Kipsang and Kipchoge, who happen to be good friends.

Given his track credentials, Eliud Kipchoge is not a good guy to have beside when you’re coming to the end of a marathon – not even if you’re Wilson Kipsang, not even if you’re anybody. That’s the situation Kipsang found himself in on Sunday, and, as might have been expected, Kipchoge just sprinted away over the last 800 meters to win by five seconds, waving and pointing at the crowd in front of Buckingham Palace before crossing the finish line. 

“It was a tough race,” Kipchoge told reporters afterwards. “My training paid off and (the race) went to plan. The crowd was wonderful and lifted me for my sprint finish.”  

Kipsang was second in 2:04:47, but retained his course record of 2:04:29 set last year. Kimetto finished third in 2:05:50 and Biwott fourth in 2:06:41.

Kipchoge had won three of the four marathons he’d run before London, including victories at Chicago and Rotterdam last year. But his London victory was on a whole different level, considering the field included the three fastest marathon runners of all time, five of the world’s all-time top 10, and eight men who had run under 2:05!

“This was like a major championship,” Kipchoge said later. “It was like an Olympic Games. I was a little bit scared at my competition but I was very confident by the time we got to 40 kilometers.”

With two Olympic medals in the 5000 and a 1500-meter best of 3:33, it made sense he would be.

The message to every marathoner in the world now is – if Eliud Kipchoge is in the race, you’d better lose him before you get to the last mile or you’ve got … t-r-o-u-b-l-e!

Kipsang, ever the gracious one, said after the race, expressing disappointment that the pace throughout the race hadn’t been faster, “I am very happy for my friend. It was a very hard race but a fantastic one. But our aim was to run a course record.”

Eliud Kipchoge has already won a silver and a bronze medal in the Olympics. Could he complete his collection with a gold medal in the marathon at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics? The marathon in the Olympics is more tactics than time trial, with winning times considerably slower than these Kenyan gentlemen (Kimetto, Kipsang, Mutai, Makau et al) have been running. Under circumstances like that, a marathoner as good as Kipchoge, who was also a two-time Olympic medalist on the track in the 5000 and has run the equivalent of a 3:50 mile, would appear to be a tough customer indeed. 

Incidentally, it’s worth noting that the three men on the winners podium in London – Kipchoge, Kipsang and Kimetto – surely constitute the greatest top-three podium in the history of the marathon!

While the Kenyans were dominating the men’s race in London, finishing 1-2-3-4, the four-year Kenyan winning streak in the women’s race came to a surprising end when Ethiopia’s Tigist Tufu won in 2:23:22.

In winning her first major marathon, the 28-year-old Tufu became only the second Ethiopian woman to win in London. Derartu Tulu had won the race in 2001.

There had been talk that the women’s field in the London race could threaten Paula Radcliffe’s women’s-only world record of 2:17:42, set in 2005. But any hopes of that happening went out the window when the women on Sunday ran the first mile in only 5:40 (Radcliffe had run 5:03).

Also, the Kenyan women, including pre-race favorite Mary Keitany, who’s the second fastest women in history, were expected to dominate the race, but Tufu had a surprise for them.

Tufu had run only 2:41:50 in her marathon debut in Houston four years ago, but she has improved so steadily and impressively since then that she won the Shanghai Marathon last year in 2:21:50.

In the women’s race in London, run at a relatively slow pace most of the way, Tufu poured it on from 35 to 40 kilometers to open a gap on her rivals. Mary Keitany, a two-time winner of this race, did her best to respond to the Ethiopian’s attack, but she never really looked like she had a chance to catch her.

Tufu, who’s 28, finished 18 seconds ahead of Keitany, also 28, who ran  2:23:40. Tirfi Tsegage, 32, of Ethiopia finished third, only a second behind Keitany, and still another Ethiopian, Aselefech Mergia, 28, (she was the tall one in the pack) placed fourth in 2:25:53.

Thus, an Ethiopian was not only the surprise winner in the women’s race, but Ethiopians took three of the top four places!

It’s probably safe to say there’s never been a more anticipated and dramatic London Marathon. The Kenyan superstars in the men’s race, Tufu a surprise winner in the women’s race – certainly a very impressive, exciting day of running indeed. And speaking of impressive, this year’s London Marathon had 43,751 finishers!

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