The long-awaited day finally arrived on Sunday.
Full of determination, confidence and hope to break the national record, I boarded the bus to get to the starting area.
The weather was about 12°C and coupled with a clear sky, it was optimum running conditions at the start of the day.
I told myself I had done all the preparations that I possibly could and all that mattered now was completing the course as fast as I could.
I was sent inside the elite and sub-elite areas to start warming up for one of the biggest marathons of my life.
I started with a very good pace, running with Singapore’s Soh Rui Yong.
We made it to the halfway mark roughly at the same time in 62 minutes and 8 seconds. We then continued for the second half of the race, but my pace started to drop at the 28km mark and I fell out of the rest of my group.
I was struggling but with much determination, I pushed myself and gave my best until the 35th km, where I began having difficulties sustaining my speed.
I persevered for the final 7km and finished with a time of 2’26:27s.
Image: Frédéric Boudin
I gave my best and ran faster than I ever have and am thankful to my management team at Dirigo Events for giving me the opportunity to compete in the 45th Berlin Marathon.
I regret I wasn’t able to achieve my target of breaking the national record but will use this experience to come back stronger and try again.
Editor’s note: Kenyan runner Eliud Kipchoge smashed the world record at the Berlin Marathon last Sunday with 2:01:39s, setting a new world mark by 1 minute 18 seconds.
