Eliud Kipchoge hopes to make history as the only athlete to win all the marathon majors

Speaking over the weekend during the unveiling of his murals in Eldoret, the world record holder said his next stop will be Boston in April before closing the season with the New York Marathon later in the year.  

Kipchoge has so far won Tokyo, London, Berlin and Chicago, which are part of the World Marathon Majors.

He said winning Boston and eventually New York City Marathon will be great.

“2022  was a great and very successful year for me. Right now my focus is on the Boston Marathon as I seek to win my fifth World Marathon Majors race,” said the four-time  Berlin Marathon champion.

Kipchoge said he wants to consolidate the six-star marathon medals as well as engage in other community-based projects under his Eliud Kipchoge Foundation.

He said he is currently looking at projects anchored around education and tree planting. 

The four-time London marathon champion said his target in the education sector is to build at least a library in each of the 47 counties.

“I do not only want to construct a library in each county, but also adopt a forest in each county. This is a big dream but I know there is a need to plant more trees so that humanity can have clean air to breathe as well as conserve the environment,” he said.

Safaricom CEO Peter Ndegwa said the murals are artistic impressions in honour and celebration of  Kipchoge’s achievement as one of the greatest marathoners.

The murals were inscribed: ‘No human is Limited' and ‘Wenye nidhamu tu maishani ndio wako huru' meaning 'only the disciplined are free'.

Ndegwa also announced a Sh1m donation towards Eliud Kipchoge Foundation. In addition, the telco will also support Eliud with 5,000 tree seedlings as part of his tree-growing initiative at Kaptagat Forest. 

In Boston, Kipchoge will be up against former New York Marathon champion Albert Korir, former Commonwealth 5,000m gold medallist Augustine Choge, Shura Kitata and Ghirmay Ghebreslassie.

Also expected to challenge the streets of Boston are champion Evans Chebet, 2021 winner Benson Kipruto, two-time winner Lelisa Desisa and Tanzanian record-holder Gabriel Geay.

posted Thursday January 19th
by Emmanuel Sabuni