Stratford AC's Boundy smashes her PB in Berlin

IT was a year of records for the 45th running of the Berlin Marathon.

Eliud Kipchoge won the race in a fantastic world record time of 2:01:39.

The 33-year-old Kenyan led from the start and when he crossed the finish line he had obliterated the world record of 2:02:57, set by his compatriot Dennis Kimetto four years ago, also in Berlin.

It is the biggest advance in the men’s marathon world record for more than 50 years. History was also made in the women’s race, as Gladys Cherono broke the course record to run 2:18:11, a personal best and the fastest women’s time in the world this year.

Not only was there a record entry of 44,389 from 133 counties, but there was also a record number of 40,775 finishers.

Three members of Stratford AC were also competing, all of whom finished under the four-hour mark.

The first of these was Sarah Boundy (3:40:32). This was Boundy’s third marathon of the year and she completed the course in a personal best time, some ten minutes quicker than her time for the Manchester Marathon in March and a couple of minutes quicker than her previous best time, at Edinburgh in May.

Next to finish, hot on the heels of his recent run in the Kenilworth Half, was Adam Evans in 3:45:55.

“The Berlin Marathon was the first Marathon Major for Adam and me and it certainly had a very different atmosphere compared to other large scale marathons,” said Boundy.

“The start area was filled with runners from all different countries and I found the quality of runners to be fairly competitive.

“From start to finish I was surrounded by runners actively overtaking. It was hard not to get carried away by the pace early on. I tried to keep my pace consistent and bank some time early on, knowing that I would slow in the final 10k. I felt pretty strong for the entire race, despite some warm conditions.

“As soon as I crossed the finish line, everyone was asking about Kipchoge, what an achievement! I’ll always remember being there on the day the world record was broken.”

Evans was followed by Craig Millard in 3:56.18. Craig’s time was a 26 minute PB.

“Despite being on the warm side, it was an incredibly well organised race with a great atmosphere throughout and a wonderful finish through the iconic Brandenburg Gate,” said Millard.

“From a personal perspective, I was delighted to not only beat my PB by 26 minutes, but to come in under four hours was just incredible.”

Millard was running in a ‘Breast Cancer Now’ bib in memory of his wife, who passed away earlier in the year.