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Trackstaa previews the return of the great man, Eliud Kipchoge, in the NN Running Mission Marathon event at Twente Airport, in the Netherlands.

For the first time since the disappointment of the London Marathon in 2020, Eliud Kipchoge, the only man in history to run a marathon in under 2 hours and the reigning Olympic champion and world record holder (2:01:39) returns to the full 26.2 mile distance tomorrow (Sunday 18th April) ahead of Tokyo 2021 with the world watching in anticipation.

Originally planned to take place in Hamburg, plans changed thanks to the covid-19 pandemic and now Twente Airport will switch from hosting fast things that fly to fast people that run. The fastest marathon runners in the world, in fact.

In yesterday’s press conference, Kipchoge said, “Sunday, I will be running a very beautiful race…I want to run a beautiful race to show the world that actually we are on a huge huge transition towards a great future.” I mean, if you didn’t already love the guy enough. Swoon.

Kipchoge is unlikely to have it all his own way, however, and in any case, as we saw in London, anything can happen in the marathon. He’ll be up against some world class pedigree in London 2012 Olympic champion Stephen Kiprotich (2:06:33) and compatriot Laban Korir (2:05:54). The reality, however, is that Kipchoge’s personal best is nearly a full 4 minutes quicker than the next fastest man, Ugandan athlete, Felix Chemonges (2:05:12).

Other notable runners in the men’s race include Jo Fukuda, the Japanese athlete will be looking to better his previous best of 2:09:52 and the 2006 Commonwealth 5000m champion Augustine Choge who, after a DNF in the 2018 Chicago Marathon will be hoping to complete his first competitive marathon.

In the women’s race, the favourite is likely to Portugal’s Sara Moreira (2:24:49) and she’ll be run close by Kenyan athlete Gladys Chesir. At the age of 42, it would be a story akin to that of Chris Thompson’s recent win at the British Olympic marathon trials, if the fastest woman in the race, Mexico’s Madai Perez (2:22:59) comes back with the victory.

The course is a flat, fast 8 laps around the tarmac runways of Twente airport, with unfortunately no room for spectators this time.

What time does it start?

The race starts at 07:30am in the UK, 08:30am local time.

How can I watch?

For fans in the UK and Ireland, BBC iPlayer and the BBC website will have live coverage. For fans in the USA, Canada and Australia, F*******s will have a live stream. Also you can make a free IOC account and watch it globally.

Exclusive updates on results and behind the scenes footage is available on The NN Running Team social media channels and you can be sure that Trackstaa will bring you live results and breaking news on our Instagram.

Who’s competing

For the full entry list in the men’s and women’s race and all other pre-race information, click here.

How does Kipchoge Train?

If you want to learn a little more about how Eliud Kipchoge trains, go watch our ‘Training Like Kipchoge’ YouTube video here.