Boston Marathon officials have announced that they will ask the IAAF to have Kenyan Geoffrey Mutai’s fastest-ever marathon effort run on Monday sanctioned as a world record.
The move comes even though IAAF rules prevent any Boston Marathon effort being declared a world record because the course is technically downhill and offers the chance of tailwinds providing a boost to runners.
Mutai’s epic run of two hours, three minutes and two seconds would, if sanctioned, shatter the world record of 2:03:59 by Haile Gebrselassie in 2008 at Berlin.
Officials of the 115-year-old race claim their course is not faster or easier than any other layout.
But for record runs, the IAAF has regulations against downhill courses and point-to-point layouts such as the famed Boston run, instead sanctioning looped courses where any wind advantage would be negated.