Dennis Kimetto Sets New Marathon WR of 2:02:57 at 2014 Berlin Marathon

Just four years after dedicating his life to running, 30-year-old Kenyan Dennis Kimetto became the first to break 2:03 in the marathon with a world record 2:02:57 at the 2014 Berlin Marathon today. An outstanding performance from a man who was a sustenance farmer in Kapngetuny, Kenya, just a few years ago!

(Dennis Kimetto breaks the tape, and new territory for the marathon WR)

Kimetto had help from his regular nemesis Emmanuel Mutai, a man familiar with sub-2:04 finishes, who pushed him throughout the race. The two negative split the famously fast course to both come under the previous world mark, with Mutai also setting a new 30k world record of 1:27:37 en route to his 2:03:13 second place finish.

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Kimetto famously began training seriously after a chance encounter with New York City and Boston Marathon course record holder Geoffrey Mutai in 2010, who invited him to join his training group. It was two years later (2012 Berlin Marathon), when Geoffrey Mutai took a 1-second victory over Kimetto – that the world first learned of his true ability. When Kimetto later was on a 2:03 pace at the 2013 Chicago Marathon (where he finished in 2:03:52, just 7 seconds behind Emmanuel Mutai), even the current marathon world record holder, Wilson Kipsang (2:03:23), took notice and claimed he was the one to watch. Turns out, he was right!

26.2 seconds off the marathon world record...one second at a time, they chip away to a sub-2!