Kenya's Kipchoge eyes world record at Berlin marathon

Chicago and London Marathon champion Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya will be racing against time in his attempt to break the Berlin course record and set a new world record on Sunday.

Kipchoge will have Emmanuel Mutai and Geoffrey Mutai, both from Kenya, as his main challengers while Gladys Cherono will be the top candidate in the women' s field. The quartet is due to depart for Berlin on Tuesday.

"I want the world record of course. It is what everyone is talking about. But the important thing first is to win the race and let the record fall in place by itself," said Kipchoge, Monday in Eldoret.

Kipchoge, who ran his personal best of 2:04:05 in Berlin in 2013, has won three straight marathons, most recently taking down compatriots Wilson Kipsang and Dennis Kimetto to win a loaded London Marathon in April.

While the win will be important to Kipchoge, runners go to Berlin for one reason: to run fast. So the current mark of 2:02:57 (of Kimetto in 2014) will be burned into Kipchoge' s brain.

"The focus is on the world record and I want to do just that. I have not run under two hours and four minutes and that is my inspiration," he said.

The parallels between Kipchoge marathon record attempt in 2015 and Kimetto in 2014 are striking. Kipchoge will be 30 on race day; Kimetto was 30 years old when he broke the world record last year.

The 2015 Berlin Marathon will be Kipchoge' s sixth career marathon, and 2014 Berlin race was Kimetto' s sixth career marathon.

Most importantly, though, both enjoyed tremendous success in those five marathons. Kipchoge won four of the five marathons and finished second in Berlin in 2013.

However, Kipchoge opted to skip the Beijing World Championships to focus solely on the Berlin marathon and prospect of breaking the world record.

"I have confidence in my speed and endurance levels. But it is important to keep the momentum until the marathon time," Kipchoge said. Endi