What it took Vincent Kipkemoi to finish behind Eliud Kipchoge at the Berlin Marathon

Debutant Vincent Kipkemoi is on course to be the next big thing when it comes to the 42km distance owing to the prowess he displayed at the Berlin Marathon last Sunday.

Kipkemoi’s dominant exploits in the streets of the German capital did not come overnight since he had to invest a lot of his time in training.

After his second-place finish at the Berlin Marathon, the youngster extended a hand of gratitude to his coach who has been vital in his journey to success. He also recounted the long hours of training, explaining that it was not an easy journey but he did his best.

“This means a lot to me…I want to thank God for enabling me to run such a good time in my first marathon. I want to thank my coach, Peter Bii who has been with me in training, we have come from far.

"I also thank my teammates who have supported me through and through. My coach gave me a great training plan and I followed it and I’m glad it has paid off well,” an elated Kipkemoi said after the race.

He added that going into the race, he did not have any major plans since he was just debuting and had set an aim of finishing the race.

The 24-year-old noted that he was not going into the race to compete with anyone and the fact that he gave Eliud Kipchoge some chills during the race was a good sign going forward.

Kipchoge was the eventual winner of the race, clocking 2:02:42, the eighth-fastest time in history to bag his fifth title on the streets of the German capital. Ethiopia’s Tadese Takele completed the podium in a time of 2:03:24.