LONDON, (The Southern African Times) – Kenyan athlete Eliud Kipchoge is set to participate in this year’s Hamburg Marathon set for April 11.
Kipchoge, who became the first athlete in history to run a sub-two-hour marathon at the INEOS 1:59 Challenge in October 2019, will be among the big names in the one-off marathon that has been organised to serve up an opportunity for athletes to run a fast race and in many cases to help secure a qualification mark for the rescheduled Tokyo Olympic Games.Under the tagline ‘The fastest way to Tokyo’ the race which will take place around a looped 10.5km city centre route is expected to attract around 100 invited elite athletes.
Confirming the news, Kipchoge tweeted on Thursday, “I am going back to the genesis of my marathon career. For me, Hamburg is where it all began. I hope to inspire many people around the world by running a great race in the streets of this wonderful city.”
The race organised jointly by Global Sports Communication, the NN Running Team and the Hamburg Marathon will represent Kipchoge’s final outing over the classic 42.2km distance before the rescheduled Tokyo Olympics.
Kipchoge has won a remarkable 11 out of 13 career marathons and besides his gold medal at the Rio Olympics, other highlights include an unprecedented four London Marathon victories, three Berlin Marathon wins and a Chicago Marathon title.
