When Abebe Bikila won the 1960 Rome Olympic marathon barefoot in 2:15:16.2, it was a world record. On Sunday, Mark Kosgei Kiptoo finished within eight seconds of that. He is 50 years old.

The Kenyan crossed the line in 13th place at the Mainova Frankfurt Marathon in 2:15:24, taking 4 minutes and 5 seconds off the men’s M50 world best, a mark South Africa’s Titus Mamabolo set at the 1991 South African Marathon Championships in Durban. It had stood 35 years.

The weather did not help. Rain and strong wind swept through Frankfurt on 25 October, slowing the elite field in a race Ethiopia’s Jirata Dinki won in 2:05:26, with Germany’s European champion Amanal Petros second in 2:05:46. Kiptoo turned 50 in June.

A 1:03:57 half three weeks before

Sunday’s time was not Kiptoo’s first mark on the masters record book this month. Three weeks earlier he had won the San Sebastián half marathon in 1:03:57, more than two minutes inside the previous world best for men over 50.

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Before Frankfurt he had told organisers the full marathon record was the plan.

“The M50 record of 2:19:29 is my main goal on Sunday,” he said in a pre-race preview to Marathon Handbook, adding that he would push harder if the race felt good.

From the track to Frankfurt

Kiptoo came to masters marathon racing with an elite distance career already behind him, including the African 5,000m title in 2012 and seventh at the 2009 World Cross Country Championships. The marathon came later: he won in Frankfurt in 2014 in 2:06:49, then returned to the same course four years later and set a 2:07:50 masters world record.

In March 2024, at 47, he ran 2:09:10 in Seoul, the fastest marathon ever by a man over 45. He won the Zurich Marathon three years in a row through 2025, taking the 2025 edition at 48 in 2:09:16.

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Pending ratification

Both the Frankfurt time and the San Sebastián half-marathon mark need World Masters Athletics approval before they become official world records. Ratification is routine for marks run at a World Athletics label race, as Frankfurt is, and typically concludes within a few months.

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