ran the 42.2km marathon distance in 2:00:25<\/a> in a staged exhibition race. In 2019, in another staged exhibition event, he ran 1:59:40. Those were special events with dedicated pacemakers, a pre-picked route and additional support. To date, no-one has managed yet to break 2 hours in a standard marathon event. <\/p>\n\n\n\n While he may not have broken the two-hour mark the Berlin record was a remarkable run by Kipchoge that’s worth breaking down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, how fast is that really?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
A hundred years ago in 1922 the marathon record was 2:32:35, set by Hannes Kolehmainen of Finland. Over the past 20 years the record has steadily been reduced from 2:05:38, set by Morocco-born Khalid Khannouchi in 2002, to Kipchioge’s latest 2:01:09.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During his record-breaking run in the Berlin Marathon 2022, Kipchoge averaged 2 minutes 52 seconds per kilometre. He only dropped his pace to over three minutes a kilometre for two kilometres.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
2:52 per kilometre is the equivalent of running 100 metres in 17.2 seconds. The world 100m record, held by Usain Bolt, is 9:58. Seventeen seconds may be noticeably slower than Bolt, but Kipchoge ran that same 100m pace for 42.2km, or 422 times back-to-back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But 100m is not the only distance that Kipchoge would beat most of us at.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Every Saturday morning around the world thousands of people take part in their local Parkruns, a 5km challenge that participants either walk or run. The fastest Parkrun to date is by Briton Andrew Baddeley in a time of 13 minutes 48 seconds for the 5km. Kipchoge ran 5km during his world record run at 14 minutes 21 seconds and he ran it eight times in succession.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How fast are you?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The average finishing time for runners at the Berlin Marathon is around 3 hours and 45 minutes. That’s a pace of 5 minutes 21 seconds per kilometre. Add your best running time below and see how you would compare to Eliud Kipchoge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n