What's the song that makes Eliud Kipchoge run faster?
You’d be hard pressed to find someone – especially a runner – who has not heard of Eliud Kipchoge. An affirmed legend in long distance running, Kipchoge has scored a pair of marathon world records and two gold medals in the Olympic marathon at consecutive Games. The Kenyan has also won 12 other marathons – including his debut effort in Hamburg in 2013 and 11 Abbott World Marathon Majors races – and, in 2019, became the first (and still the only) person to run the marathon distance in under two hours. While this phenomenal feat – known as the INEOS 1:59 Challenge – was staged under control conditions and not a ratifiable world record, it was extraordinary proof of what this man can accomplish over 26.2 miles.
But while his grand performances are well known, his daily training habits are less widely documented. What inspires him to compete? How does he continue to work so hard beyond the bright lights of race gantries? The answer, it seems, is a balance of positivity, consistency and a mighty good playlist – and his favourite song might surprise you...
Music for motivation
‘I am a big, big fan of Kelly Clarkson,’ smiles Kipchoge, who is now a global ambassador for leading electronics brand Shokz. ‘I listen to all the music of Kelly Clarkson. The first song goes, “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger”. That’s what gets me running. I still push on and push on, because I have discovered that running cannot kill me – it makes me stronger.’
Alongside Clarkson’s hit Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You), Kipchoge is also partial to the country twang of Kenny Rogers – particularly the 1979 throwback Coward of the County. In fact, just like many of us who listen to tunes while we train, Kipchoge now wears his headphones for all kinds of training runs – from easy two-hour outings on the trails to sharp sessions on the track.
‘I’ve been motivated more because I can listen to the music which motivates me,’ he notes, reflecting the tactics he uses to stay loyal to his training routine. ‘That’s the only way in which I can run fast. I can finish the run in a happy way, you know – and at the end of the day, you really feel that you are energetic.’
And the science supports this.
According to a study published in the Journal of Functional Morphology and Kinesiology, listening to music has a tangible positive impact on exercise performance, so long as we enjoy the songs that are playing. More specifically, the researchers found that moving to our favourite beats can improve our mood and motivation and induce favourable psychophysiological changes with regards to things like our rate of perceived exertion.
For years, figures such as sport and exercise psychologist Professor Costas Karageorghis have sung music’s praises. Karageorghis, especially, has highlighted how listening to songs of certain tempos while running can affect our temperament and tolerance of the activity, and even our aerobic efficiency.
Ascending, stopping, accepting and moving on
Music choice aside, Kipchoge makes melodies of his own on the roads. He has eclipsed most others with his glowing collection of marathon achievements, with only his late countryman Kelvin Kiptum having run an official 26.2-mile course faster than him. Even so, as many would surely now agree, Kipchoge is entering the twilight years of his time as a professional runner.
This year has been particularly taxing for the 39-year-old. At the start of March, he finished tenth at the Tokyo Marathon, following a surprising sixth-place finish at the Boston Marathon in April 2023. It seems almost unnatural that Kipchoge should not win – or even podium at – a major marathon, but the human body cannot rack up victories forever.
This was further proven in Paris this summer, where he dropped out of the men’s Olympic marathon at around the 31km mark, having cited back pain as the cause. Although, by this point, he was well behind the leaders and not in contention to defend his title, it was still the first time in Kipchoge’s marathon career that he had failed to complete a race.
‘I have accepted it,’ says Kipchoge, reflecting on his curtailed race in Paris. ‘I’ve accepted the results. You know, running has a lot of challenges, and the moment you encounter any challenge, you need to accept it and move on.
‘The [Paris] Olympics actually advocated for peace in this world,’ he continues, looking beyond his one event. ‘But above all, I got a chance. No Olympic flag is white – it has five rings, and every ring represents a continent. And I got a chance to represent a black ring that’s the continent of Africa – and that’s still on my mind. I represented Africa as a continent, and we came together as continents to tell the whole world that the Olympic Games is the case whereby we are rooting for peace and rooting for education without any bias at all.’
But while he has accepted his Paris experience and come to value the broader, more profound purpose of the Games, a competitive flame still burns within Kipchoge. ‘I still want to win something else,’ he says, nodding to his desire to race in other marathons around the world – not just the ‘famous’ ones in cities like Berlin and London. He still wants to train hard, and he still wants to cross finish lines first.
‘Running is like life – full of challenges,’ he adds. ‘That’s why it’s called life. You’re training, feeling tired, dealing with injury, not hitting the targets in training, not hitting the targets in rest – but consistency is the key. If you miss today, you wake up tomorrow. If you have a rest this month, and you actually know the goal that you set, don’t fall down. Wake up, move on every day and next time you will achieve it. Those small, small things will be a big thing.
‘You know, it’s about being consistent,’ continues Kipchoge, who is often revered for his philosophical approach to running. ‘It’s about pressing on every day.’
Running is for life, not just for records
But there’s only so long that we can press on at a certain level, or indeed at a certain pace – especially when that equates to a marathon of two hours and barely any minutes.
For Kipchoge, however, running is not a career but an entire way of life. Running is an ingrained, natural part of his existence – so although he admits it is ‘about time’ that he says goodbye to elite-level competition, that time will certainly not signify a final farewell to the sport.
‘I still want to run fast and inspire people, but the moment I call off the sport, I will not actually really, really, stop running,’ he says. ‘Instead, I will go to the big city marathons and run with a big group of a thousand people to enjoy running together and inspire every young generation.’
In the meantime, Kipchoge is content to run his own race and help others to relish their running, too – especially those who are taking on 26.2 miles for the first time. While finish times have dictated much of his career, Kipchoge urges new marathon runners to focus on anything but numbers, positions and thoughts of quitting.
‘During the race, just enjoy it,’ he advises. ‘Don’t actually put your mind to something called time – just finish that marathon. You know, it’s not about competing. It’s about finishing. The moment you finish, you will realise that you have done good work. It’s about accomplishment. You have accomplished what you have been training for.
‘So just start,’ he continues. ‘Go to the start line. Run the way you want to run. Make sure you treat yourself. Make sure you go through the finish line. That’s the important thing.’
And as for the legacy he hopes to leave to the sport – and the world?
‘I hope and trust that my running legacy is to make people respect running,’ he muses. ‘And, you know, the moment I make this world a running world, that will be my best, best legacy.’
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