Men’s World Marathon record

2:00:35 Kelvin Kiptum (KEN) Chicago 8 October 2023

Kelvin Kiptum’s world marathon record of 2:00:35, set in Chicago last year, has been ratified.

Kenya’s Kiptum became the first athlete to break 2:01 in a record-eligible marathon, taking 34 seconds off the world record at the Bank of America Chicago Marathon on 8 October.

With that performance, Kiptum improved his PB by 50 seconds to surpass the world record of 2:01:09 set by his compatriot Eliud Kipchoge in Berlin on 25 September 2022.

Kiptum pushed the pace throughout the race in Chicago. He broke away from a seven-strong lead group after reaching 5km in 14:26, joined by his compatriot Daniel Mateiko. They were on world record pace at 10km and passed in 28:42, but the tempo dropped a little and reached halfway in 1:00:48.

After 30km was passed in 1:26:31, Kiptum kicked and dropped Mateiko. A blistering 5km split of 13:51 took him to the 35km checkpoint in 1:40:22, and he was on sub-2:01 pace, 49 seconds ahead of Mateiko.

Continuing to run urgently, Kiptum passed 40km in 1:54:23 – after a 27:52 10km split. He went on to win the race by almost three and a half minutes, crossing the finish line at 2:00:35.

“I knew I was coming for a course record, but a world record – I am so happy,” he said.”. “A world record was not on my mind today, but I knew I would be a world record-holder one day.”