Juniors do not race with Kipchoge in Berlin Marathon 2023

On July 26, the Twitter page of the Chicago Marathon 2023 confirmed that Kiptum will first attend the tournament taking place in North America on October 8. As such, the Kenyan runner will not compete with the legendary Kipchoge at Berlin Marathon 2023 on September 24.

Over the past eight months, Kiptum has continuously made a splash and has emerged as one of the world's fastest marathon runners (42.195km). At Valencia Marathon 2022, he finished first with 2 hours 1 minute 53 seconds, becoming the marathon debuting runner with the best record in history.

Five months later, the 23-year-old runner improved his PB (personal best) to win the London Marathon with 2 hours 1 minute 25 seconds, setting a new race record - 16 seconds slower than Kipchoge's world record. Only three runners in history have reached sub 2:02, and Kiptum is the only marathoner to do so under the age of 35.

Despite winning both his first 42.195km runs, Kiptum is still relatively unknown at major marathons. The 23-year-old Runner made his own training plan and did not join the marathon as soon as his fellow countryman Kipchoge or the Ethiopian star Kenenisa Bekele.

In June, Kiptum was selected for the Kenyan team to run the marathon at the World Athletics Championships from August 18 to 27 in Budapest, Hungary. But he refuses to focus on the big marathon in the fall, either in Chicago or Berlin.

The move has made Kiptum rumored to compete directly with Kipchoge in Berlin, which has a flatter track than any of the six most prestigious marathons on the planet and has a pacer. Since 2003, the men's marathon world record has been broken eight times, all in Berlin. At last year's tournament, Kipchoge set a world record in Berlin itself with 2 hours 1 minute 9 seconds, breaking his own record set in 2018 - 2 hours 1 minute 39 seconds.

According to Canadian Running Magazine, the selection of the Chicago Marathon, which takes place two weeks after Berlin, clearly shows Kiptum's intention to continue to win and break Kipchoge's record. Although not as favorable as in Berlin, the Chicago track is still flat, with a total elevation of 74m, providing a great opportunity for the Kenyan runner.

But it won't be easy for Kiptum to accomplish this goal, having to compete with one of the world's best tactical marathon runners and defending champion Benson Kipruto. Kipruto finished second at the 2023 Boston Marathon, where he finished second behind Evans Chebet - the title defender with a time of 2 hours 5 minutes 54 seconds.

The elite group attending Chicago 2023 also includes Seifu Tura - the Ethiopian runner who won the 2021 tournament and won last year's runner-up, Galen Rupp, Conner Mantz and Bashir Abdi - the Belgian runner who won a bronze medal in the marathon at the Tokyo 2021 Olympics.

In the women's event, from the beginning of last month, the organizers of the Chicago Marathon announced three superstars confirmed to participate in this year's tournament, including Ruth Chepngeich - Kenyan runner who is aiming for the third Chicago Marathon title in a row, the champion. London Marathon Sifan Hassan and American marathon record holder Emily Sisson. This year's elite list also includes Genzebe Dibaba of Ethiopia, Joyciline Jepkosgei of Kenya and Molly Seidel - second runner at the 2020 US Olympic Marathon.

Chicago Marathon was born in 1977, is a member of the system of six largest running tournaments on the planet World Marathon Majors, in addition to the ones in Boston, New York City, London, Berlin and Tokyo. The men's record of the Chicago Marathon is 2 hours 3 minutes 45 seconds set by Kenyan runner Dennis Kimetto in 2013. The female record belongs to Brigid Kosgei with 2 hours 14 minutes 4 seconds in 2019.

From now until the end of the year, the major system will have tournaments in Berlin on September 24, Chicago on August 10 and New York City on November 5. In addition, elite athletes also choose to compete in the marathon content of the world athletics championships taking place from August 18 to 27 in Budapest, Hungary.