Bernard Kipyego Finally Gets His Marathon Win

Published by IAAF on October 19, 2014

With two second places and three third places among the results of his 10 marathons before he stepped on the start line of the 2014 TCS Amsterdam Marathon, Bernard Kipyego later admitted that he had started to wonder when his day would come, but he finally triumphed in a marathon with a personal best of 2:06:22 at the IAAF Gold Label Road Race on Sunday (19).

Kipyego finished just under a minute outside the course record of 2:05:36 set by his compatriot Wilson Chebet 12 months ago, but it was still an outstanding performance considering the unseasonal high temperatures and humidity in the Dutch city and an improvement on his personal best, which had dated back to the 2011 Chicago Marathon, by seven seconds.

The first intermediate time in the men’s race, 5km in 15:12, showed that the pacemakers were being prudent as the mercury rose to 19 degrees Celsius and the humidity was around 90 per cent.

“We had to be careful (at the the start),” said Kipyego after the race.

A big group went through 10km (30.11), 15km (45.08) and 20km (1.00.30) together, battling against a strong wind as they ran alongside the Amstel River.

Halfway, shortly after the turning point by the famous Ouderkerk, was reached in 1.03.41 and, disappointingly for the organisers who wanted a course record in the 39th edition of their Marathon, and chances of setting a new standard looked to have disappeared.