Running News Daily

The man behind Kipchoge's world record

On Sunday morning at the Berlin Marathon, Eliud Kipchoge redefined history as he broke his marathon world record by 30 seconds. His run will go down as one of the most remarkable performances in our sport but what cannot be ignored is the behind-the-scenes work by his drinks guy, Claus-Henning Schulke. 

As small as the role of simply passing the hydration bottle to the fastest marathoner in history may seem, Schulke, might be the best in the world at doing it. Check out the effort from Schulke during yesterday’s marathon:

Schulke, a 56-year-old triathlete from Berlin, first worked with Kipchoge in 2018, when he set the world record of 2:01:39. Schulke has been volunteering at the Berlin Marathon since 1998 and is the senior member of the 30-person crew in charge of getting the elite athletes their drinks during the race.

When Schulke completed his handover to Kipchoge at the first hydration station, Schulke did his fist-pumping celebration, as he famously did in 2018.

Across the 13 drink stations on the course, Schulke rode his bike to each station, waited for Kipchoge, handed him the bottle, then hopped back on his bike to beat the marathoner to the next station.

Another individual who deserves a shoutout is the Berlin Marathon volunteer who followed Kipchoge and Schulke around, shooting video of their exchanges. Hard work does not go unnoticed. 

Kipchoge might have the world record, but Schulke has every right to bask in the glory of it as his right-hand man.