Why World record must fall: Kipchoge vows to smash course record in Berlin

Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge reacts after crossing the finish line during an attempt to break the two-hour marathon barrier at the Monza circuit in Italy, May 6, 2017. REUTERS

The Olympic marathon gold medallist is confident of achieving the rare feat.

It is a few minutes past 8am on Saturday at the Global Sports Training Camp in Kaptagat. Athletes are basking in the sun after their ritual early morning run.

They are discussing the best way to win their different races and bring home the glory.

They have sacrificed time with their loved ones for a long while. The camp has been their home away from home - a place that provides utmost tranquillity.

One such athlete who has left his palatial home to stay at the camp is Olympic marathon champion Eliud Kipchoge.

When The Standard Sports caught up with him, he was on the massage table as his masseur did what he knows best.

If Kipchoge's slender and fit body could speak, it would tell of the sacrifices he has made and the punishing exercises it has had to endure.

The masseur, Peter Nduhiu, who has worked with Kipchoge for 14 years, slowly presses his elbow into Kipchoge’s thigh muscles. The athlete's pain is evident.

“Physiotherapy and sports are inseparable. The athletes strain their muscles while training or during races. Massage is both preventive, curative and rehabilitative to ensure that they maintain their top positions,” says Nduhiu.

But the man is confident as he heads to Berlin for the marathon scheduled for Sunday.

“I have been training well and my preparations for the marathon have been okay. I want to go for a course record,” says the soft-spoken man who also seems to be a person of few words.

Asked about who he looks up to as mentor, he shoots back: “What do you mean by looking up to? I can only speak of my mentor who happens to be my coach, Patrick Sang.

"He has been guiding me through the whole process and I really appreciate how far we have come,” he says.

Kipchoge advises upcoming marathoners to work hard and concentrate on their training and never give up as they will have a breakthrough just like him someday.

“They should also love the sport. My love for this sport has always helped me to win . It has also kept me going,” he says.

On doping, the athlete says: “I am also reading the doping news like you on the internet. I do not encourage anyone to dope as this has a lot of effect on their performance and future in the sport.”

It is his last day at the camp and the man, who is in his early thirties, is hoping against hope to break the 2:02:57 seconds world record set by his fellow countryman Dennis Kimetto on the same course in 2014.

In May this year, Kipchoge ran a 2:00:25 marathon in a Nike-sponsored challenge but the International Association of Athletic Federations (IAAF) did not recognise his record, citing non-compliant pace-making and rehydration on the course.

Other favourites will be Kenya’s Wilson Kipsang and Ethiopian arch-rival Kenenisa Bekele.

In Berlin last year, Bekele missed the world record by six seconds as he lost to Kipsang to take second place in 2:03:13.