Eliud Kipchoge in training. He will among a host of other athletes to take part in Abbot World Marathon Majors [photo/media.aws.iaaf.org]
Next month’s Virgin London Marathon will bring the curtain down on this season’s Abbot World Marathon Majors this April in a more spectacular fashion with a $1 million (Sh100 million) cash prize in contention.
Arguably, some of the best running feet in marathon business will be in action as in-from Eliud Kipchoge takes on a slightly familiar opposition though on a different pedestal.
As a track icon, he cut his niche in the 5,000m before claiming the world title, before shifting from the track to the road and indeed, he has been at his best, making a name for himself as a true legend over the distance.
Kipchoge has run smart and clever in the advent of his elevation to the marathon, culminating with an Olympic gold medal in Rio in 2016.
Likewise, his challengers Kenenisa Bekele and Mo Farah, three great distance runners over the same 12-lap distance are legends in their rights, winning the world titles before their current aspirations on the road.
The trio will only face off for the third time in their long and decorated athletics careers having first clashed in 2005 World Cross Country Championships and the 2009 IAAF World Championships.
Kenenisa won gold on both occasions while Kipchoge finished fifth twice. Farah crossed the line 37th in 2005 but improved 30 places in 2009 when he placed seventh.
Now Farah and Kipchoge have gained eminence to match Bekele and the trio will converge on the road on April 22 for the London Marathon, which is a series finale.
At stake is the grand prize of $1 million (Sh100 million), distributed equally among the men’s and women’s winners, meaning whoever comes out on top in London will take home a cool $500,000 (Sh50 million).
Kipchoge is currently joint top of the series standings thanks to his win at the BMW Berlin Marathon last September alongside the 2017 winner of the Virgin Money London Marathon winner Daniel Wanjiru, the 2017 champions of Chicago (Galen Rupp) and New York (Geoffrey Kamworor) and the world champion Geoffrey Kirui.