This year the running community witnessed an exceptional milestone as both the male and female record were broken. This past October 8, Kelvin Kiptum, a professional long distance runner from Kenya broke the male world record completing the Chicago marathon in 2 hours and 35 seconds. Just a few weeks earlier, in the Berlin Marathon, on September 24, 2023 Tigist Assefa broke the female world record completing the 42 kilometers in 2 hours 11 minutes and 53 seconds.

Kelvin Kiptum was born on December 2, 1999 and is currently 23 years old. He began his running career at the age of 13. Over the years, he ran a few half marathons and in 2020 he started working with Gervais Hakizimana as a coach. In 2022 Kelvin Kiptum debuted in the marathon in the Valencia marathon. He set the 4th fastest time in the world and the fastest debut time in history, winning the race. He then ran the London Marathon in which he also won and beat second place holder by more than a minute.
The previous male world record for the marathon was held by Eliud Kipchoge with a time of 2:01:09 in the 2022 Berlin Marathon. Kiptums average pace for the entire marathon was one second faster than Kipchoge’s time running each km around 2:51 min/km.

Tigist Assefa made history by breaking the women's marathon world record at the 2023 Berlin marathon. She was born in Ethiopia on December 3, 1996 and is currently 26 years old. Tigist has been breaking records her whole life, in 2012 she began competing internationally and in 2016 she had an injury that stopped her career for two years and led her to start road running. After her recovery leaving her track past behind she debuted in her first marathon in the Riyadh Marathon in Saudi Arabia in 2019. She continued training and ran the Berlin Marathon of 2022 finishing with the third fastest time in the world.
The previous record was from 2019 with a time of 2:14:04 and was held by Brigid Kosgei. Tigist lowered the world record by 3 minutes and 4 seconds.
Both of the new records mean a lot to the running community. Kelvin Kiptums new set time for the marathon assures the possibility of the marathon being completed in under 2 hours in the future, something previously considered to be unattainable in the near future. Similarly, Tigist Assefa’s time opened a new possibility for women, proving that dedication and determination can reach ambitious goals!
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