15 Mind-Blowing Race Moments From 2019

In 2003, Paula Radcliffe set the world record with a career best of 2:15:25 at the London Marathon. For 16 years, the closest any runner came to Radcliffe’s mark was 2:17:01, a career best run by Mary Keitany in 2017.

On October 13, Brigid Kosgei made history when she won the Chicago Marathon in 2:14:04. The Kenyan ran almost perfectly even splits to achieve her goal in the Windy City, passing the halfway mark in 1:06:59 before clocking 1:07:05 for the second half.

“It’s amazing for me,” Kosgei said after the race. “I never believed that time. But I’ve seen 2:10 is possible for a lady to run if they are sure. During training, you must focus everything.”

In his second attempt at breaking the two-hour barrier in the marathon, Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya accomplished the feat with a stunning run of 1:59:40 on the streets of Vienna in October.

The performance was not an official world record because of the use of pacemakers and because Kipchoge was handed his drinks from a bike, but it stands as the fastest 26.2 in history. Kipchoge holds the marathon world record of 2:01:39, which he ran in Berlin in 2018.

“I wanted to send a message to the world,” Kipchoge said. “No human is limited.” Watch Kipchoge run to the finish line here.

[The World’s Fastest Marathoners]

In 1979, Joan Benoit Samuelson set a national and course record when she won the Boston Marathon as a 21-year-old college student. Forty years after her historic victory, Samuelson, 61, set out to run within 40 minutes of her winning time at the 2019 Boston Marathon. On April 15, the 1984 Olympic champion wore a similar Bowdoin College singlet to honor her 1979 win and shattered her goal, crossing the finish line in 3:04. “To be here, 40 years later and being able to run, let alone being able to run a marathon, I feel blessed,” she said.

Ultrarunning star Jim Walmsley maintained his Western States winning streak when he obliterated his own course record in June. Navigating 100 miles from Squaw Valley to Auburn, California, Walmsley broke the tape in 14 hours and 9 minutes, which broke his own course record by more than 20 minutes. In the same year, Walmsley also qualified for the Olympic Marathon Trials in January, broke the 50-mile record in May, and won the 42K at the World Mountain Running Championships in November.

Donavan Brazier had the race of his life when he broke one of the oldest American records on his way to winning gold in the 800 meters at the IAAF World Championships in Doha, Qatar. With 250-meters to go, Brazier ran away from the field to secure the first 800-meter world championship gold medal for the United States in a time of 1:42.34. The performance broke the previous record set by Johnny Gray 34 years ago.“I just feel on top of the world, this year has been a huge domino effect,” Brazier said. “I just kept things going, and to see it coming together in time for the world championships means a lot to me.”

Dalilah Muhammad made history twice this season when she broke the 400-meter hurdles world record and lowered it once again on her way to winning the world championships.

The Olympic champion first set the world record in July when she won the USATF Outdoor Championships in 52.20. Just over two months later, Muhammad improved on her own record, winning gold in a time of 52.16 at the IAAF World Championships in Doha.

“Sometimes you tell yourself to back off a little, that you’re going too fast, but in this race I knew there was no holding back, that it could be done,” she said.

At the IAAF World Championships in Doha, Sifan Hassan won two gold medals that no man or woman has achieved in the history of the world championships or Olympic Games. The Dutch runner, 26, kicked off the competition by winning the 10,000-meter final in a national record time of 30:17:33. Then three days later, Hassan returned to the track to contest the 1500 meters. She won all three rounds of the event, culminating with another gold medal in a winning time of 3:51.95 just one week after taking home the 10,000-meter title.

For 60 hours straight, Maggie Guterl ran the same 4.2-mile trail loop to become the last runner standing in the Big’s Backyard Ultra race. The Durango, Colorado, native ran 250 miles on her way to becoming the first woman to win the brutal race that rewards the person who can run for the longest amount of time.

“When I finished, a woman came up to me and said, ‘I didn’t want to tell you this, but you were running for all of the women and an entire gender,’” Guterl said. “That was in my head the whole race and it was so surreal when I was the last one standing.”

Guterl was not the only woman to make history in ultrarunning this year. In October, Camille Herron set a world best when she won the International Association of Ultrarunners 24-Hour World Championship. Herron covered 167.8 miles in 24 hours and led the U.S. to an overall team victory.

Holding a 4:25-mile pace, Geoffrey Kamworor of Kenya shattered the world record at the Copenhagen Half Marathon in September, running 58:01. The performance, which was 17 seconds faster than the previous record, took place in the same city where the 26-year-old won his first of three half marathon world championship titles in 2014. The distance star went on to prove his range later this year when he won the 2019 New York City Marathon.

In her first marathon, Joyciline Jepkosgei of Kenya secured a title in a major upset. The half marathon world record-holder raced like a veteran in the New York City Marathon to beat four-time champion Mary Keitany in a winning time of 2:22:38, only seven seconds shy of the course record.

One year after Eliud Kipchoge set a world record that many believed would be untouchable for at least a few years, Kenenisa Bekele nearly surpassed it at the Berlin Marathon. The 37-year-old Ethiopian won the race in 2:01:41, just two seconds shy of Kipchoge’s record. The performance was a personal best by 80 seconds and an impressive return to form after battling several injuries over the past few years.

“I don’t give up. I have had difficult injuries, until only three months ago, but I am happy to run my personal best,” he said. “I had a tight hamstring at 31K and had to slow down, but then it recovered and I was able to retake the lead.”

In her first ever NCAA Outdoor Championship, Sha’Carri Richardson made history. In the 100-meter final, the LSU freshman sprinted to victory in a collegiate record of 10.75. In the process, the 19-year-old shattered the world junior record, NCAA record, LSU record, and facility record. Shortly after, she captured a second-place finish in the 200-meter final, where she broke the U-20 record held by Allyson Felix.

The USATF Indoor Championships brought out exciting breakthroughs for three young athletes. In the men’s 2-mile, 21-year-old Drew Hunter won the crown out of the “slower” heat by running a world-best time of 8:25.29. The women’s 600 meters was won by 16-year-old Athing Mu who defeated world silver medalist Raevyn Rogers in an American record time of 1:23.57. And Colleen Quigley, 27, of the Bowerman Track Club won her first national title in the mile over teammate Shelby Houlihan.

The Brigham Young team had a banner day at the NCAA Cross Country Championships in November. Battling muddy conditions, the BYU Cougars secured the team victory over three-time defending champions Northern Arizona in the men’s race. With a team total of 109 points, BYU beat NAU by 54 points to win the program’s first NCAA cross-country championship in history. They also improved on the team’s runner-up finish to the Lumberjacks in 2018. The BYU women’s squad earned a spot on the podium as well, finishing runner-up against team champion Arkansas.

Joshua Cheptegei of Uganda capped off a banner year when he set a world record in the 10K on December 1, running 26:38 to win the 10K Valencia Trinidad Alfonso in Valencia, Spain. Earlier this year, he won the world cross-country championships and the world championship 10,000 meters in Doha, Qatar.