Eliud Kipchoge hasn’t exactly retired from competitive running yet. The 41-year-old “GOAT” of the men’s marathon is still training and racing—but now with more of a focus on being an ambassador for the sport and “inspiration.”
You can count Kipchoge’s wife, Grace Sugut, among those he has inspired to run 26.2 miles. Sugut completed her first marathon at Sunday’s Cape Town Marathon in South Africa. She crossed the finish line in a time of 4:29:59, placing 2,353 out of the 6,914 women in the Cape Town field.
Kipchoge himself turned in yet another impressive marathon performance, finishing 16th overall at Cape Town, running a time of 2:13:29. He’s in the process of running a marathon on each of the seven continents over the next three years, and he checked Africa off his list with his finish on Sunday.
As Sugut crossed the finish, her husband was right there waiting to give her a big hug. It was a bit of a reverse situation to what we saw in 2019, when Sugut greeted Kipchoge with a hug at the finish line of the INEOS 1:59 Challenge, where Kipchoge broke two hours in the marathon.
“I have run my first marathon 13 years ago,” Kipchoge wrote on Instagram. “It has brought me to where I am today, but I could not do this without the support of many including my family. My heart is filled with pride, for my wife Grace completing her first marathon in Cape Town.”
Before the race, Kipchoge gave some advice to Sugut. “My advice actually is to line up in the starting line,” he told the media. “Enjoy the whole race, feel that pain all through the race, cut through the finishing line, and, you know, she will be accomplished. She will not be the same.”
Next up for Kipchoge this year is the Porto Alegre Marathon in Brazil on July 12, followed by the Melbourne Marathon in Australia in October. We’ll have to wait and see if Sugut will join him on the starting line at either of those races.
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Dan Beck is the deputy news editor at Runner’s World. He has led news coverage teams for major running events like the Olympic Games, World Athletics Championships, Boston Marathon, and New York City Marathon. A former collegiate distance runner at DeSales University, he still enjoys running, just more slowly now. Before coming to Runner’s World, he covered track and field and cross-country at MileSplit. He lives in Philadelphia with his wife, where the two like to explore the city’s rich dining scene.
