Then there’s just how often he lands on the podium. That’s one clue that all the numbers are clustered together. Take all of Kipchoge’s marathon finish times over the past nine years: The mean-or average-finish time (2:04:25:18) is almost exactly the same as the median-or middle-finish time (2:04:10:99). When you look at Kipchoge’s race times, what really emerges, says Melissa Kovacs, PhD, a statistician and runner, is his consistency. The greatest show on earth? Says who? The country’s best yogurt? Using what metric? We wanted to understand that line between great and greatness-both what defines it statistically and creates it physically. Superlatives unanchored by context tend to just float toward hyperbole. Slapping GOAT on every athlete having a moment isn’t particularly scientific-or accurate. It’s why he was chosen to break the two-hour barrier-and why he pulled it off. But it’s in that sliver of seconds where Kipchoge becomes a legend.
His 2:01:41 from Berlin 2019 is not quite 0.4 percent slower-just 32 seconds-than Kipchoge’s official 2:01:09 world record. In a Kipchoge-less world (perish the thought), we could be writing here about the world’s second fastest marathoner ever, Kenenisa Bekele.
It’s not like Kipchoge is the only fast marathoner on the planet. Get the Mag Runner's World Courtesy NN Running Team This article appears in Issue 3 / 2023 of Runner’s World.
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