Reigning men’s marathon world record holder Eliud Kipchoge on Wednesday, September 28, 2022, left behind his pair of Nike Air Zoom Alphafly NEXT% 2 sneakers to motivate future BMW Berlin Marathon runners.
Kipchoge hopes the gesture will motivate upcoming athletes.
“It was an absolute pleasure to meet and inspire 40 Nike members at the Nike Home of Running to have the courage to push beyond their limits.
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“The human race just got faster and my pair of AF%2 is the gift I will leave behind to motivate the runners of Berlin in the future,” read a statement from the Kenyan legend.
The shoe which was released earlier this year is one of its kind. It costs $275 (approximately Ksh33,000).
The record-breaking sneaker is made up of a thick, lightweight system and full-length foam that improves transition by adding more bounce.
Kipchoge produced one of the greatest displays ever witnessed in the history of road race running to better his own world record by a whopping 30 seconds at the 48th edition of the Berlin marathon.
The father of three ran the most part of the race alone to cross the finishing line in 2:01.09 ahead of compatriot Mark Korir and Ethiopian athlete Tadu Abate.
Eliud’s previous world record of 2:01.39 was also set in the streets of Berlin in 2018 - he broke the record of 2:02.57 set by fellow Kenyan Dennis Kimetto.
Besides setting a novel world record, Kipchoge also entered the Berlin Marathon history books by equalling Haile Gebrselassie’s record of four wins at the event.
Kipchoge does not plan to retire soon as he seeks to officially run a 42 km marathon below two hours. On 16 October 2019, he unofficially clocked 1:59:40 in the Ineos 1:59 Challenge.
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