Eliud Kipchoge showcased his class to win a historical fourth title at the London Marathon

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On a wonderful April day, 43,000 marathoners took to the streets of London . In this feature, Justin Lagat opines about the Kenyan wins in London!

Eliud Kipchoge showcased his class to win a historical fourth title at the London Marathon

If there is one marathon that Eliud Kipchoge showcased his great prowess and class in marathon running, then it must be today’s London Marathon. After his world record in Berlin, when a journalist had asked him what his next aim was, he had replied that he needed to run a 2:02 marathon having already run 2:00, 2:01, 2:03, 2:04 and 2:05. It sounded like a joke at that time, but today he just ran 2:02:38 to win a fourth London Marathon title.

Many lessons were taken away by any keen observer in the way he ran it relaxed and calmly. It would seem that remaining patient in a marathon race does not necessarily mean staying behind the leading pack and waiting for the last stages to move to the front. Kipchoge went after his target time and remained patient at the front of the pack and just let the others drop back, one at a time. As usual, he had stayed just behind the pacesetters from the start of the race up to the 30km point when the last pacemaker, Gideon Kipketer, stepped out of the race before taking control.

Even after the 35km point when he remained with just three other runners in the lead and appearing to be in good form while the others were struggling, Kipchoge was not tempted to do what many would have done in his place; increase the pace and secure the win early. He remained focused on his own race as though the others around him did not even exist.

Kipchoge won the race in a new course record of 2:02:37. Mosinet Geremew became the second fastest marathon runner in history by running 2:02:55 while Wasihun Mule took third in 2:03:16.

The women’s race started with Sinead Diver of Australia slowly opening a gap on the rest. It was as though she was trying to enact what just happened in Boston a couple of weeks ago when Worknesh Degefa had broken away in a solo run to win it before the rest could realize what was going on.

However, for Diver, the gap was first closed at 5km with the pack crossing it in 16:56. At around the 15km point again, Diver made a second surge going with the pacemaker. One would think she had just let the gap close in order to count the number of her chasers going after her.

As Diver suddenly faded at halfway point when the main protagonists of the race caught up with her again, a trio of Brigid Kosgei, Vivian Cheruiyot and Roza Dereje took to the front and the rest would soon follow in a single file. It was Kosgei who was controlling the pace and Dereje was the first to give in followed momentarily by Cheruiyot who then put in some more effort and was soon running shoulder to shoulder with Kosgei again.

Cheruiyot could not maintain the consistent pace set by Kosgei and helplessly watched as the gap started to stretch again as the latter went ahead to win the race in 2:18:20. Cheruiyot followed in 2:20:14 while Dereje edged Gladys Cherono by one second to finish third in 2:20:51.

Author

Justin Lagat

Since 2013, Justin Lagat has written for RunBlogRun. His weekly column is called A view from Kenya. Justin writes about the world of Kenyan athletics on a weekly basis and during championships, provides us additional insights into the sport.

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