Ugandan Jacob Kiplimo dropped jaws in Barcelona two months ago when he ran 13.1 miles in 56min 42sec \u2013 a half marathon time nearly 48 seconds quicker than anyone. The 24-year-old will be in London on Sunday, for his first full marathon, and London race director Hugh Brasher, is dangling prospects of a sub-2 hour run to hype up his race. <\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s going to be the most fascinating debut ever,\u201d Brasher told Guardian. \u201cIs it feasible that he could take Kelvin Kiptum\u2019s record as the fastest debutant? Without a doubt. Do I think he could one day be the athlete that runs under two hours? Yes. But let\u2019s see what happens on Sunday.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Kiplimo competed over 5,000m as a 15-year-old prodigy at the 2016 Rio Olympics, coming from an impoverished upbringing on a farm in Kween, 1500m above sea level on the Mount Elgon volcano. But two of his step-brothers from three mothers in all, Robert Chermonges and Victor Kiplangat, went sub 2hr 10min marathoners \u2013 as Jacob took over.<\/p>\n
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\u201cWe were helping our brothers, the big brothers,\u201d Guardian quoted him as saying. \u201cThey were running and we kept seeing them when they were training. And one day, I tell them, I want to become like you. So I just kept training, training. This was when I was around 10 or 11.\u201d<\/p>\n
Spotted and brought to Italy to train for the 2016 Olympics by coach, Giuseppe Giambrone, Jacob recalled being told by the Italian, \u2018you will be one of the greatest runners in the world.\u201d His 5000 ended in the semi-finals, but Olympics was a huge experience. His vest came before supershoes: 5,000m in 13:19.54 and the 10,000m in 27:26.28, according to Guardian. But he lacked a great sprint finish which meant he only had bronzes in 10000 besides two senior world cross country titles.<\/p>\n
The phalanx assembled for London on Subday includes Eliud Kipchoge, the greatest of all time, Olympic champion, Tamirat Tola, last year\u2019s winner, Alexander Mutiso and second fastest debutant Sabastian Sawe, a late bloomer at 30 who ran 2:02:05 to win the Valencia marathon in December.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am ready to compete,\u201d Kiplimo said after running around 75-90 miles a week during his track career to more like 125-135 for the marathon.<\/p>\n
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\u2018The leading pack is likely to go through halfway in 61min, giving scope for Kiplimo to run a negative split and chase down Kiptum\u2019s world record of 2:00:35. A following wind for the second half of the race will help, although the forecast may be a little warm,\u2019 Guardian wrote.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Asked whether he could one day break two hours for the marathon, Kiplimo said, \u201cYes, of course. Maybe in the future. But I\u2019m just focusing on my debut. If this one goes well, then maybe I will be the guy to make it.\u201d<\/p>\n
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