Kipchoge should be sure-footed for London success

BUT can he do it on a wet Sunday in a posh part of London? That is possibly the last remaining mystery around Eliud Kipchoge, whose prime opposition at the London Marathon today will come from the elements and any slippery spots of tarmac at St James’s Park.

One can easily guess at the reactions within the race headquarters when confirmation dropped on Friday Kenenisa Bekele had pulled up with a calf injury. To lose the B-side of what had been billed as the race of the century was just about par for the course in a year when so many plans had already been shredded and burnt.

Instead of that showdown between titans, for which all sensible predictions backed Kipchoge, we return to last year’s theme of the great Kenyan taking on a clock for excitement. He has made no mention of a world-record attempt, or even a possibility, but it is natural to wonder how close he will get to his official mark one two hours, one minute and 39 seconds.

He set that in Berlin in 2018 in the older Nike Vaporfly shoe and on Sunday returns for his 19.6 loops of the park in the same superior Alphafly model with which he broke two hours at a time trial last year in conditions that were non-compliant for an official record.

The consensus is that it will be too cold, too wet and too windy, but the beauty of Kipchoge is that as the greatest marathoner of all time, his limits are yet to be established.

The shame, of course, is that it is ever harder to accurately plot the 35-yearold’s superiority over those who have gone before.

That being because of shoes that in recent years have been wildly out of kilter with what was previously worn, so much so you can question if footwear that improves running economy between five to eight per cent are within the same postcode as the spirit of sport.

Kipchoge, unlike Bekele prior to his withdrawal, has presented himself firmly as a company man this week: ‘We live in the 21st century and we need to accept change. Development goes hand in hand with technology. The shoe is good. We are doing a press conference virtually, is that not technology? We should accept technology and marry technology.’

Provided Kipchoge remains upright, he should clinch another comfortable win, with the main challenge in Bekele’s absence coming from Nike stablemate Mosinet Geremew, the Ethiopian who was second behind Kipchoge in London last year in two hours, two minutes and 55 seconds.

Defending champion Brigid Kosgei of Kenya leads an excellent women’s field that also includes the world gold medallist, Ruth Chepngetich, and 2018 London winner Vivian Cheruiyot. The three Kenyans will pursue the world record in a womenonly race of 2:17:01, set by Mary Keitany in 2017.

David Weir, 41, is pursuing a ninth men’s wheelchair title.

While Mo Farah is not racing the elite men, he will serve as a pacemaker for around half of the distance to the British runners trying to hit the Olympic qualifying standard.