Eliud Kipchoge is unquestionably one of the greatest marathon runners in history. Kipchoge has become the face of marathon running over the past decade, winning more than 75 per cent of his career races, including two Olympic golds and 11 Abbott World Marathon Majors. Now, he’s announced he’s set to tackle a shorter distance, the 10K.
On Dec. 1, Kipchoge will line up for the Thailand 10K at the 2024 Bangkok Marathon as part of a new partnership with the race and the NN Running Team. This will be Kipchoge’s first non-marathon race since the 2016 Delhi Half Marathon, where he clocked 59 minutes and 44 seconds to win.
Happy 40th birthday to marathon king @EliudKipchoge 👑
📸 @NNRunningTeam pic.twitter.com/IOuyS7nI1R
— World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) November 5, 2024
Kipchoge, who recently celebrated his 40th birthday this week, boasts a 10K personal best of 26:54, set at the Madrid 10K in 2006. The last time he raced this distance was in 2014 at the prestigious Giro di Castelbuono in Italy. However, in his recent marathon performances, the second-fastest marathoner in history has shown signs that he is human, finishing 10th at the 2024 Tokyo Marathon in 2:06:50 and a DNF at the Paris Olympic marathon. Hip pain in Paris reportedly prevented the Kenyan star from pursuing a third consecutive Olympic marathon title.
In addition to the Thailand 10K event, Kipchoge will tour Southeast Asia with the NN Running Team, aiming to promote distance running in the region. “There is tremendous potential in the Asian running world, and I am happy to start working together with Amazing Thailand to promote running in the Asian region,” Kipchoge said in a press release. “I have always said that I want to make this world a running world, because a running world is a happy world, a running world is a healthy world, and a running world is a peaceful world.”
Kipchoge has also confirmed he isn’t finished with the marathon quite yet. Speaking to Runner’s World in an October interview, he reiterated his aspiration to complete all seven Abbott World Marathon Majors before retiring. To date, he has run five of the seven, with only New York and the newly added Sydney Marathon remaining on his bucket list.
