Kelvin Kiptum is the new king in the marathon sphere after a remarkable run in the Chicago Marathon on Sunday, October 8, 2023, when he not only won the race but set a new world record.

Kiptum’s 2:00:35 produced a new and fastest run in the 42.195 km distance, and this shattered a previous record held by Eliud Kipchoge when he ran at the 2022 Berlin Marathon.

Of course, Kipchoge still holds the fastest run in the marathon courtesy of the 2019 Ineos 1:59 Challenge, where he set a time of 1:59:40. However, due to the conditions of the race; rotating pacemakers and other features, this run does not count as an official world record.

Kiptum’s, Kipchoge’s splits compared

Now, how did Kiptum’s Chicago Marathon splits compare with Kipchoge’s in the Berlin course?

Kiptum, 23, had an average pace of around 2:51 min/km, compared to Kipchoge’s pace of 2:52 min/km in 2022.

Kiptum started the race with a first five-kilometre time of 14:26, which was 12 seconds slower than Kipchoge ran at the equivalent point of the race in Berlin (14:14), according to Olympics.com.

Kipchoge went past the 10km mark in a time of 28:23, while Kiptum’s pace at that point was 28:42. At the 20km mark, Kipchoge was faster again as he crossed that mark in 56:45, compared to Kiptum’s 57:39.

At 30km, Kiptum’s pace became faster than Kipchoge’s, as the former completed the previous split in 14:27 compared to the former’s 14:32.

Kiptum’s five-kilometre split of 13:51 between kilometres 30 and 35 was a full 39 seconds faster than Kipchoge’s at the same stage of the race, albeit on different courses.

Another rapid split followed, with Kiptum reaching the 40th kilometre with a 5km split of 14:01, while Kipchoge’s split at the same time was 14:43.

The world record holder closed the last 2.195km of the race with a time of 6:12, four seconds faster than Kipchoge’s equivalent.

Olympic Games battle

As Kiptum enjoys the glory that comes with his new record, a battle royale is on the horizon, given that the two nemeses are expected to clash at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.

As Kipchoge ushers in the sunset days of his career, Kiptum is just starting what is likely to be a defining career in the marathon.

There are reasons to believe that Kiptum is capable of even breaking his own record. The Chepkorio-born star set the fastest debut time (2:01:53) in his first race at the distance at the 2022 Valencia Marathon.

He registered the second fastest marathon ever (2:01:25) in the London Marathon 2023, where he defeated Kipchoge.