FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
World Record Holder Dennis Kimetto Warns Rivals to
Expect Another Decade of His Marathon Virtuosity
Barely eight hours after he had taken the marathon into a new territory
with his 2:02:57 to win the BMW BERLIN-MARATHON on Sunday, Dennis Kimetto
lounged back in his chair after his evening meal and before the post-race
party, reflecting on how far he had come and the road ahead. The BMW
BERLIN-MARATHON is an IAAF Gold Label race and part of the World Marathon
Majors Series.
The bad news for his rivals is that the man who first burst on the
international scene in 2012 is confident that, at the age of 30, he can
have at least another five years at the top level. Then he thought again.
"Actually, I think I could still be a very good runner ten years from now,
at 40,"said Kimetto, a quiet smile indicating this was no joke.
Sitting alongside his friend and fellow runner Wilfred Kigen, Kimetto had
time to reveal more of himself. What appears at first and, especially to
non-Swahili speakers, as the epitome of shyness, is a man with inner steel,
a determination fired by both the memory of seeing the great duels of Paul
Tergat versus Haile Gebrselassie on television and of a childhood where
money was scarce.
"We didn't have television or radio at home, so at the 2000 Olympics in
Sydney I went to the community centre in the village and watched. The
memory of Haile versus Tergat in the 10,000m inspired me. I thought,
perhaps I could run at that level?" wondered the new world record holder in
the marathon.
The journey has not been easy, even by the standards of a boy growing up in
a family of four brothers and three sisters and parents who were
subsistence farmers near Kapngetuny. For much of his childhood, Dennis had
to work on the small landholding rather than attend school. However, when
he decided in 2008 to devote time to running, his parents gave him their
full support. "My father said, train as well as you can and go for it, you
can change your life", said Kimetto, looking back on six years which have
transformed not only his life but that of his family, thanks to his
earnings from running.
Destiny played a hand. Training near his home one day, he met what had
become a familiar sight to young Kimetto: the group led by Geoffrey Mutai
whose camp was nearby. Mutai invited him to join their run that day, liked
the look of his stride and said, why not join us full time?
The move paid off as Kimetto won eleven domestic races in 2010, including
the Nairobi Half Marathon, clocking 61:30 but at altitude which made the
performance worth a significantly faster time. Yet the distance running
world wasn't prepared for what happened at the prestigious Ras Al Khaimah
Half Marathon in the United Arab Emirates in February 2012.
"I stood on the start line and looked around. I felt scared, seeing runners
like Wilson Kipsang alongside me. Nobody knew who I was," said Kimetto, who
went on to astound athletics cognoscenti by beating the illustrious field
in 60:40.
He broke the hour for the first time in his next race at the distance with
59:14 at the Vattenfall BERLIN HALFMARATHON just six weeks after Ras Al
Khaimah. A world record over the rarely run distance of 25km followed five
weeks later in what was fast becoming a home from home: Berlin.
His marathon debut was sensational, finishing barely a stride behind
Geoffrey Mutai in what still is a world record marathon debut of 2:04:16 in
Berlin in 2012. With every race he seemed to become yet more formidable. In
his Chicago debut last October he broke the course record with 2:03:45,
having won Tokyo earlier in 2013 with another course best. The first glitch
came when he dropped out of Boston this April with a hamstring injury but
Kimetto proved a quick healer.
"When I asked his physio back in Kenya how well Dennis had recovered from
his injury shortly before Berlin, he said: "Number one. Dennis will be
number one, no problem", said his Dutch manager Gerard van de Veen. Having
become the first man in history to break 2:03 for the marathon and improve
Wilson Kipsang's time by 26 seconds, Kimetto can relax and contemplate the
future. Naturally enough, his opinion whether a sub 2 hour marathon would
ever be possible is much in demand. Allowing for the effects of post-race
jubilation and his current level of English, it would be wrong to interpret
a nod of the head or a smile as a definite answer either way.
But after Dennis Kimetto's achievements in an international running career
of barely three years, who knows where his limits may be?
More information is available online at: www.berlin-marathon.com
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