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TSN Senior Reporter

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Some athletes break records, others smash them. What Eliud Kipchoge did on Sunday morning is hard to put into words.

The 33-year-old Kenyan runner set a new world record, running the Berlin Marathon in an astonishing time of 2:01:39. That time is a stunning one minute and 18 seconds faster than the previous mark.

Trying to put that into perspective for a non-runner is next to impossible. A minute or so over 42 kilometres doesn’t seem that much. Even trying to explain it to the average amateur runner is hard.

Kipchoge’s pace works out to two minutes and 53 seconds per kilometre. Most of us couldn’t run at that speed for 100 metres let alone 42 kilometres.

Over the years, records in the marathon have come in bursts of a few seconds. But a 78-second improvement is nothing short of astonishing. It’s similar to shooting a round of 56 in golf or scoring seven goals in a hockey game.

In running terms, this is one of the sport’s landmark achievements, standing beside Usain Bolt’s 9.58 in the 100 meters or Roger Bannister breaking the four-minute mile.

But even the man who set the record was having a hard time expressing what it meant.

“I lack words to describe this day,” Kipchoge told reporters after his race. “I am really grateful, happy to smash the world record.”

Even some of the best marathoners in the world marvelled at the performance.

“I think everyone expected that he would break [the world record] at some point,” said Reid Coolsaet, Canada’s top marathoner. “I just couldn’t believe how much he broke the world record by.”

Coolsaet, who has run the second fastest marathon by a Canadian at 2:10:55, said the elite running community was left marvelling at Kipchoge’s speed.

“It’s just so fast. I mean his second half (which he ran in 60:33) is a world-class time for the half,” added Coolsaet, who is training for the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon on Oct. 21.

Kipchoge completed the first half in 1:01:06, aided by three pacers. Two of the trio dropped out after 15 kilometres, while the last one exited at 25. That left the 5-foot-6, 115-pound Kipchoge to finish the last 17 kilometres on his own, not an easy task.

But the man known for his extreme discipline and attention to detail appeared positively calm and relaxed as he clipped along the streets of Berlin.

The world record solidifies Kipchoge’s status as the sport’s greatest runner. He has won 10 of the 11 marathons he’s entered, including the 2016 Olympics. The one missing piece to his resume was the world record. No longer.

He has run a faster marathon, logging a time of 2:00:25 last May in a time trial organized by Nike in an attempt to break the two-hour mark. Done on a racing car track in Monza, Italy and with a plethora of pacers who subbed in and out, it wasn’t accepted as an official mark but it no doubt proved to Kipchoge just what his body and mind could achieve.