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Kamworor now plans to Marathon world record

Friday, November 22nd, 2019 04:55 | By
Geoffrey Kamworor at Karura Forest last weekend during a ceremony organised by Isuzu East Africa to award Eliud Kipchoge with a brand new pick-up car for running a sub two hour marathon in Vienna last month. PD/ PHILLIP KAMAKYA

World Half Marathon record holder Geoffrey Kamworor has now set his sights to lowering the official full marathon world record currently held by his friend and training partner Eliud Kipchoge.

Kamworor who spoke to People Sport after his 58:01 world half marathon record was ratified by global athletics body IAAF on Tuesday, said he wanted to write his own history by carrying his half marathon prowess to the full version of the race and lower the official 2:01:39 record set by Kipchoge in September last year at Berlin Marathon.

“No human is limited. Personally, I am open for anything, I think Kipchoge has what it takes to take a shot at the current record, may be when I finally get there, the record will be at 2:00:0. You never know and I will still go for it,” said Kamworor.

He added: “I keep reminding myself, God’s time is the best. What Eliud has built did not come overnight, he has worked extremely hard to get where he is right now and he remains my ultimate motivator. When the time comes, I will be extremely happy to hold both the half and full races.”

Kamworor says the mood at Global Sports Communications management camp in Kaptagat where he trains with Kipchoge, is at an all time high and can only be better going into the new season.

For Kamworor having Kipchoge who he refers to as his ‘elder brother’ and mentor, in the same corner is not only a motivation for him but for all other athletes in the camp as well.

“You know an Olympics medal is the one missing in my collection. That is why I want to work hard to be in Team Kenya. If I won’t make the cut in the marathon team, then I have to ensure I qualify for 10, 000 metres,” he observed.

“I am secretly praying to be included in the Kenyan  marathon team with Kipchoge for Tokyo,” he urged.

In a sensational run on September 15, Kamworor chopped 22 seconds from the previous record at the Copenhagen Half Marathon, coming tantalisingly close to breaking the event’s 58-minute barrier.

It was an apt setting for the 26-year-old who won the first of his three successive world half marathon titles in the streets of the Danish capital in 2014.

Covering the first five kilometres in 13:53, just outside world record pace, Kamworor upped the tempo to reach 10 kilometres in 27:34, four seconds inside his stated target. He was in front alone by the 11-kilometre mark, but didn’t slow. He reached 15 kilometres in 41:05, the fastest time ever recorded for that distance and a stunning 11 seconds inside sub-58 minute pace.

His pace dropped over the waning stages but he still reached 20 kilometres in 55:00, another world best. He was just a few metres from the finish line as the clock moved to 58 minutes before stopping at 58:01.

“It is very emotional for me to set this record,” said Kamworor, who also won back-to-back world cross country titles in 2015 and 2017. “And doing it in Copenhagen, where I won my first world title, adds something to it.”

The previous record of 58:23 was set by Zersenay Tadese in Lisbon in 2010.

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