Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge won the 2015 Berlin Marathon on Sunday with a personal best of two hours, four minutes and one second falling short of the world record by approximately one and a half minutes.
Kipchoge had expected to become the second man to ever run under 2:03 but all went fair excluding the awesome and memorable win in the Germany capital.
The in-form 30-year-old, a winner in London in April, ran his sixth career marathon and winning the showpiece marked his fourth straight marathon triumph.
Along the flat, inner-city course Kipchoge insoles slipped out of his shoes early in the race, but the marathoner held on to edge fellow Kenyan Eliud Kiptanui and Ethiopia’s Feyisa Lilesa.
“At some point they started coming out but I had no time to remove them,” Kipchoge told Reuters. “But when you run without soles there is a lot of impact. There was a lot of pain with every step.”
“The world record was really my aim but it was not my day for it,” he said. “But I ran a personal best and I am happy and I will come back next year for it.”
Kenyan Gladys Cherono crossed the finish line after 2:19:25, claimimg the women’s race ahead of Ethiopians Aberu Kebede and Meseret Hailu.
