When British marathoner Mo Farah was asked how to beat Eliud Kipchoge to a 42km marathon title or simply outclass the famed Kenyan in long distance running, he said quite simply: “Just let him retire.”
Mo Farah recorded his second-fastest time in the 42 Kilometer marathon after finishing fifth on Sunday, April 28, 2019, but Eliud Kipchoge had already won three minutes up the road from Farah.
For Gary Lough, Farah’s coach, the only possibility of victory for his star athlete is in a championship race. “In this type of race, Kipchoge is head and shoulders above,” he remarked in an interview with Standard UK.
Gary Lough reiterated that Mo Farah was better off running the 10,000km race as opposed to the 42km marathon because Eliud was unbeatable.
The Kenyan marathon legend has not lost a race since 2014.
In 2018, in Italy, Eliud Kipchoge made an attempt to run a marathon in under 2 hours. He ran 2:00:25, coming short of making history by 26 seconds. Kipchoge set a Berlin Marathon record and won the London marathon in April 2019.
Kenyans took to the streets, social media and others converged at the KICC to celebrate the marathoner.
On Friday, October 11, President Uhuru Kenyatta personally called Eliud wishing him luck ahead of his INEOS 1:59 Challenge. Deputy President William Ruto travelled to Vienna to cheer on him to victory.
We celebrate you Eliud.
