SEEN FROM ELSEWHERE – Questions about the 30-year-old marathon runner’s miraculous time in Chicago continue unabated. Explanations dare to break a taboo.
By Christian Brüngger (Tribune de Genève)
Peter Herzog’s name has been mentioned more often lately than he would have liked. The fact that he is the fastest marathon runner Austria has ever known, at 2 h 10′ 06″, wasn’t the point. What was was the fact that Kenyan Ruth Chepngetich crossed the finish line in 2 h 09′ 56″ in Chicago around three weeks ago.
In doing so, she smashed the women’s world record, already considered eternal, by 1′ 57″. The fact that the 30-year-old is faster than established professionals like Peter Herzog has broken a taboo in the running world.
Amby Burfoot, winner of the legendary 1968 Boston Marathon and long-time editor of the running bible “Runner’s World”, expressed this taboo. “Why it’s hard to trust Ruth Chepngetich’s world record”, he headlined in an opinion piece. All the experts were…
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