“Real history” beckons for Tokyo-bound Kipchoge

26.2 miles of answers. A long-awaited showdown between the marathon’s greatest exponent and an athlete already with a vice-like grip on his slipping crown. 

I spoke to Eliud Kipchoge in January, his modest 3 by 2m Kaptagat room the background, a prison for the ramping tension that followed his Paris Olympic pursuit. 

Constantly sipping at the clutch of his electrolyte drink, a glucose monitor stuck to his left arm, his mind at times seemed preoccupied by other worries. How can he recover, bring back to life a body now over 20 years versed in a single craft, and head out once more to do the work required to become the first to win back-back-back Olympic Marathon golds?

“Real history” as he liked to put it. 

Kiptum’s shadow

Push him further and I think he may even have admitted the bettering of Kelvin Kiptum had become an obsession as close as can be to the sub-two hour run in 2019. His greatest challenge but one he emphatically felt he could overcome. 

Kiptum’s passing has denied that duel. A tussle over the hilliest marathon in Olympic history. A half-marathon to set the scene, a climb from Versailles, ten final wrestled miles on the dash to the Hotel de Ville.

In an era where science shouts loudest, a reminder of the romance that makes the sport so special. 

I was speaking to Kipchoge around the Tokyo marathon, the site of his 2022 course record and a venue he will return to on Sunday March 4th. Breaking the world record as recently as September 2022, for the first time in his marathon career 2023 was a year with question marks over his ability to sustain his success. 

Lack of respect

One bad race in the spring – sixth at Boston – and then a fifth procession at Berlin, a course where he has now eclipsed Haile Gebrselassie with the record for outright wins. After Kiptum’s world record at Chicago, Kipchoge entered 2024 as the outsider the defend his Olympic crown. 

A few other journalists from around the world were also on the call, some keen to remind him of that position. Whilst Kipchoge replied as the diplomat you would expect, it was hard not to pick up on some sense of grievance. 

Why not Boston or London? The repeated theme. 

The world’s a big place. Japan and its people have a special place in Kipchoge’s heart:

“What sticks in my mind about Tokyo is that culture, the Japanese love fitness. Everybody goes and runs marathons in Japan. Everybody is into running. It’s the only region where I can sell my idea of making the world a running world. I trust if we build from Asia it will diffuse the world in a faster way. One day we can translate the culture of Japan to the whole world, make this world a running world.”

With Kipchoge’s remaining marathons in increasingly finite supply, paying homage to the countries and the fans that played such a big role in his stardom he has felt to be fitting. 

Time to prepare

But it’s not all sentiment. Timing is crucial. 

“I discussed for a long time other races but Tokyo took all the credit because of the timeline. Having Tokyo early in the year is respecting the responsibility of running in the Olympic games.”

Kipchoge’s point was clear. Anything much later, Kiptum’s intended Rotterdam sub two hour attempt included, was a risk not worth taking. Everything was about giving the best possible chance of peaking in Paris. 

I asked him what a pan-flat Tokyo course really did in terms of preparation for the hilliest marathon in Olympic history, with far more elevation than any of the World Marathon Majors. 

“Personally I think Tokyo is the real deal for preparation towards the Olympic Games. What we see is the timeframe that it can allow us to train. If we have enough time to train, then we will get enough time to put a lot of mileage in our muscles to go up those hills in Paris.”

Not done yet

Last year I sat in the back of a modest matatu emblazoned with logos of the INEOS 1:59 project. For two hours we followed as Kipchoge marshalled nine men decked in full black, their only differentiating colour the orange of an Alphafly or a white edition steadily reddening in the Kaptagat clay.

For 40km they slowly rose over 500m of elevation. The valley floor beneath the escarpment centimetres more distant with every step. Each kilometre raising the heart rate and with it a quickening tempo. Until four remained and the work was over. 

When we talk of preparation, the choice of one 42.2km race isn’t the difference. For Patrick Sang and his student of over 20 years, it’s those runs, the session after session, the relentless consistency.

10 years of marathon tutelage, over 20 with the title of a World Champion, Kipchoge for one final time, seemed intent on applying everything he had learnt for one final challenge. 

Athletics own answer to Ali vs Foreman, Federer vs Nadal. 

Having usurped Wilson Kipsang at the start of his marathon career, and held off Kenenisa Bekele, there remained one last reinvigorating pretender to his crown. 

An elevating duel,  the like of which we may never see again. 

Kipchoge on Sunday will point his head to the ground, see beneath him the Tokyo tarmac. For 26.2 miles he will move one step closer to Paris.

“Real history” may beckon but tragedy has already won the ultimate prize.