Kenya's Abraham Kiptum Sets New Half Marathon Record & I Find A Way To Make It About Me

From the IAAF (International Association of Athletics Federations):

One year after his compatriot Joyciline Jepkosgei broke the women’s world record at the Medio Maratón de Valencia Trinidad Alfonso, Kenya’s Abraham Kiptum broke the men’s world record at the IAAF Gold Label road race on Sunday (28), clocking 58:18 to take five seconds off the mark set by Eritrea’s Zersenay Tadese in 2010.

That’s 13.1 miles in 58 minutes & 18 seconds for an average of about 4.44 minutes per mile. In Manhattan it’s 13 miles from Battery Park at the bottom to Inwood at the top & going off traffic right now he would get there on his own two feet well before I would in a car. Perhaps we can work out some sort of teamwork arrangement moving forward…

When Kiptum crosses the finish line I couldn’t help but be moved watching him hug his excited coaches. The amount of training that goes into an achievement like that has to be insane. In the minutes leading up to breaking the tape he never let up in his stride & you get an idea for the speed as crowds whir by in the background & motorbikes roll along quickly next to him.

::Puts on leather-elbow patched jacket, lights pipe, kicks feet up on coffee table, stares into fireplace::

Heh, kind of reminds me of my ‘ol running days…

The last time I did any real running in NYC was four years ago. Yikes. It was the NYC Half Marathon & it was about 15 degrees in the sun.

Things started off ok leaving Central Park & heading into Times Square, where apparently my dream was to… run through Times Square without a lot of traffic? Weird flex but OK.

I think that photo also documents the era when that tooth really started coming into the limelight. Sadly it did not make me more aerodynamic as we all hit the harsh winds coming off the Hudson down the West Side Highway. By that point in the race I was shivering & frozen having tossed off all my Goodwill layers by the MnM Store.

I started to think about quitting.. just zip off to the side & straight into a toasty pub… but I was running to raise funds for Team Fox (Parkinson’s research) inspired by a favorite uncle & man, oh, man is love (and also the power of shame after people have donated funds in your name) a great motivator.

It was also hard to quit with this much older woman who kept passing me, especially when I noticed the image on her jacket. Perhaps there were more difficult things to conquer in life than being chilly. I wound up finishing with a dismal time, but wrapped in a foil blanket shaking on the subway like a crazy person I was proud to have stuck with it.

Having completed two half-marathons & one full (did not shit my pants & no bloody nipples, humble brag) so far, I feel pretty confident to say I’ll never do one again… but dang, then I read stories & watch videos like Abraham Kiptum crossing the finish line & it makes me want to get back out there & accomplish something.

Just kidding LULZ, major congrats to him but hell no on my end. Pass the chips pls.