By Amy Tennery
NEW YORK (Reuters) – The Chicago Marathon plans to honour the late Kenyan marathon runner Kelvin Kiptum at next month’s race, a year after he smashed the men’s world record in the Windy City.
Kiptum was aged only 23 when he put on a performance for the ages to break the tape in two hours and 35 seconds. He died in a car accident four months later, cutting short his promising career.
Organisers have planned a moment of silence at the starting line to honour Kiptum and a brief exhibit celebrating his career at the pre-race expo, with memorial stickers available for all participants.
“He’s still prevalent in everyone’s thoughts,” Race Director Carey Pinkowski told Reuters. “He’s with us and it’s our plan to celebrate his life.”
While the Chicago race is known for its flat course and fast times – six world records have been set there – Kiptum’s achievement nonetheless was astonishing as he became the first man to run a record-sanctioned marathon faster than 2:01.
Pinkowski was at the finish when Kiptum crossed the line in Chicago and said the race was etched forever in his memory.
“I was so impressed by his biomechanics and his ability was just effortless, it was like something I’ve never seen before. And I’ve seen a lot of the greats,” said Pinkowski.
It was the second of two major titles for Kiptum, who won in London in a course record of 2:01:25 earlier in 2023, and the Kenyan ran much of the second half of the Chicago marathon by himself, with the chasing pack well behind him.
“It was him against history, him against the stopwatch, him against the clock, and, he just ran,” said Pinkowski. “I knew he was a magnificent athlete. In my opinion, the best I’ve ever seen.”
The 2024 Chicago Marathon will take place on Oct. 13.
(Reporting by Amy Tennery in New York, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
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