Kelvin Kiptum wants to break the two-hour barrier in Rotterdam

The marathon world record holder and the only man to run under 2:01, Kenya’s Kelvin Kiptum, has unveiled his training objectives for the upcoming NN Rotterdam Marathon on April 14.

In an interview with the Italian newspaper La Gazzetta Dello Sport, Kiptum discussed his goals and training regimen for Rotterdam. “I would like to continue to grow and break the (two-hour) barrier,” said Kiptum on the elusive time. “I want to be a part of the rich history of the marathon and if the preparation goes in the right direction and the weather conditions allow it, I’ll go for it.”

Kiptum also shared his aspirations to compete for Kenya at the Paris 2024 Olympics, where, being the world record holder, he will undoubtedly enter as one of the favourites. The 24-year-old also mentioned the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo as another noteworthy event on his calendar. The Paris Olympic marathon course presents a unique challenge with over 400 metres of elevation gain, making it much hillier than Rotterdam, London, Chicago, or Valencia.

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Rotterdam will mark the fourth marathon of Kiptum’s career. He burst onto the scene with the fastest marathon debut in history at the 2022 Valencia Marathon, clocking the third-fastest time in history (at the time) of 2:01:53. Within a year, he lowered his time by almost a minute and a half and claimed victory in two Abbott World Marathon Majors: London and Chicago—where he lowered the world record to 2:00:35.

In the same interview, Kiptum revealed that he must push himself further in training to achieve his goal of a sub-two marathon. Currently training at a high-altitude camp in Chepkorio, Kenya, he reportedly covers a distance of 270 kilometres a week. The world record holder mentioned that he sees his wife and kids sporadically but conscientiously decided to put 100 percent focus into his training.

For Kiptum to break the two-hour barrier, he would need to run a full second faster per kilometre than he did when he won in Chicago. Averaging two minutes and 52 seconds per kilometre over 42.2K to set the world record, he would need to average two minutes and 51 seconds to break the barrier.