Berlin Marathon: Classy line-up whets Berlin’s WR appetite

Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya wins the men's race in the 2016 London Marathon in London, Sunday, April 24, 2016. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

There are high expectations as the 44th Berlin Marathon gets underway on Sunday.

The course, which has 19 turns, will see three best talents square it out – greatest marathoner of all time Eliud Kipchoge, greatest runner of all time Kenenisa Bekele of Ethiopia, and Wilson Kipsang, the former world record holder.

The script reads: Kipchoge versus Bekele versus Kipsang versus Kimetto, the world record, and former world record holder Patrick Makau and 2007 world champ Luke Kibet. The world record has been broken in Berlin in the past 15 years with Paul Tergat in 2003 (2:04.55), Haile Gebrselassie (2:04.26 in 2007 and 2:03.59 in 2008), Patrick Makau (2:03.38), Wilson Kipsang (2:03.23 in 2013), and Dennis Kimetto’s current world record of 2:02.57.

Last year, a supposedly past-his-prime Bekele raced a supposedly past-his-prime Kipsang and it resulted in one of the most compelling races in marathon history as Bekele came from behind to outduel Kipsang and won in 2:03.03, just ahead of Kipsang's 2:03.13.

This was after they went out in an unheard of 1:01:11 — the fastest halfway split ever in a marathon. A Bekele-Kipsang rematch in Berlin with side act Patrick Makau would be interesting in its own right, but throw in the world’s greatest marathoner in Eliud Kipchoge and it becomes a sporting spectacle.

Kipchoge, literally and figuratively, has done what no one else has done in the marathon. Not only has he posted 2:00.25, two-and-a-half minutes faster than anyone else, he has run eight non-exhibition marathons, winning seven of them, including the Olympics, and run 2:05.00 or faster six times. His fastest official marathon is the 2:03.05 he ran in the London Marathon last year on a course that is historically much slower than Berlin.

Bekele and Kipchoge first raced on a big global stage an amazing 14 years ago at the World Championships in the 5000m when Kipchoge outkicked not only Bekele but also Hicham El Guerrouj for the win.

Bekele gained revenge by defeating Kipchoge at the Olympics the following year and would never again lose to Kipchoge in a global championship. But since turning to the marathon, Kipchoge has been virtually unstoppable and that includes beating Bekele twice. [Jonathan Komen and Agencies]

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