by Deji Ogeyingbo
Deji Ogeyingbo sent us this piece on Guye Adola, and Deji’s thoughts on Guye battling Eliud Kipchoge in the upcoming epic 2022 BMW Berlin Marathon, coming 25 September 2022. Can anyone challenge Eliud KIpchoge? Deji gives us the lowdown.
Guye Adola faces the daunting task to usurp Eliud Kipchoge at the Berlin Marathon
So much has been said about Eliud Kipchoge doing something special at the Berlin Marathon this weekend. Understandably so, considering he’s the greatest marathoner of all time and returns to the course in which he broke the World Record in 2018. The Kenyan has always talked a great deal about no man being limited, a mantra which many fans hold on to as he builds up to a race.
Kipchoge returns to the German Capital not only as the fastest man ever in the marathon but as the double Olympic champion in the event, having retained the title in Tokyo last year following his triumph in Rio in 2016.
What barriers can he break this time around? Can he run a legal sub-2-hour race? Are there any potential contenders? There are so many subplots to dissect from this weekend’s race. But it is perhaps the latter that might strike many and probably bring up a huge storyline at the end of the 26.2-mile race. Can anyone knock Kipchoge off his perch?
Since the Kenyan great switched fully to the marathon, very few runners can lay claim to have stood shoulder to shoulder with Kipchoge. It can be a blessing and a curse. His dominance has reached a level that it feels futile to actually challenge him. How can you really? Kipchoge only fluffed his lines for the first time in 2020 when he finished 8th in London in 2020. Even that was a coronavirus-hit race that had no crowds. Before that, he last lost in 2013.
In his almost flawless streak of supremacy, there are two runners who have pushed the marathon great to a limit. The first and most important was his duel with Guye Adola in 2017 in which both runners went into a sprint finish on the Berlin Course. It was the very first marathon race for the Ethiopian and he almost caused an upset as he clocked a time of 2:03:46, fourteen seconds behind Kipchoge.
A year after Kipchoge set the world record with 2:01:39 in Berlin in 2018, one of the distance running greats in Kenenisa Bekele was just two seconds shy of the mark in the same city. One year apart, two great runners set astonishing times, but never raced each other.
There is the feeling over the last five years that Bekele and Kipchoge should have been going head-to-head instead of doing everything they could to avoid each other. Can you imagine if they had run against each other maybe 10 times they could have pushed and paced each other to under two hours several times? As their duel increasingly never seems to materialize, Adola is delicately poised to pounce. But can he make it count on race day?
There are slugfests that rouse the blood lust and there are games of cat and mouse that leaves the audience captivated. Very occasionally do we find two elite marathoners clash in arguably the fastest marathon course in history. What usually happens is the elevation of the purest and oldest form of running and making it a noble art.
Adola’s road to victory in Berlin last year when he clocked 2:05:45 was filled with challenges. But much work is required if he is to become as good as his heroes Bekele and Kipchoge. After beating Bekele last year, a much bigger task waits for him.
Adola knows about the advantages of the Berlin course and formulates a clear target for himself: “I am very happy to be back at the BMW BERLIN-MARATHON to defend my title from last year. I always have a good feeling about the BMW BERLIN-MARATHON because it was my debut marathon, and that time is still my personal best. This year I will try to run even faster and achieve a time under 2:03:00 hours.”
His win last year didn’t come without its own perks. It took Adola five years to win a marathon finally. A year after his incredible run in Berlin, Adola competed in London but finished in a disappointing 17th place with a time of 2:32:35. He was not invited back. But a third-place finish in Valencia in 2019 (2:04:42) saw him back on track.
The life of elite long-distance runners is full of difficulties, training throughout the year to compete in two marathons annually, and the body needs time to recover from the rigors of running the 42.195km at top speeds of 20km/h. Having competed only once this year, this weekend’s race will be his first.
Of the top fifteen fastest times ever run over the marathon, Berlin shows up in seven of these times by runners. Understandably so considering Adola’s biggest performance came on this course and he faces a daunting task to usurp Kipchoge who is on another level.
Maybe both athletes can push each other to run for under two hours is a huge possibility. In addition to boasting a very fast course, running a very fast time comes with so many factors. Adola will have to feel in optimum shape on race day and temperatures not too high.
Still, anything can happen. And like the thrilling finish, we witnessed between both runners in 2017, 2022 race promises to be even better.
