Paul Tergat Breaks the 2:05 Barrier
In a stunning effort, Kenyan Paul Tergat shattered Khalid Kannouchi's world record in the marathon, breaking the 2:05 barrier, and winning Sunday's Berlin Marathon in 2:04:55.

Tergat, who had run five previous marathons but never won, knew that he had trained well for this race and hoped the notoriously fast course would lead to a world record. His previous best was a 2:05:48 at the London Marathon in 2002 (behind Khalid Kannouchi's world record of 2:05:38).

Pace setter Sammy Korir closed on Tergat in the final kilometer, and was just one second behind at the finish, taking three and one-half minutes off his previous personal best.

Tergat, who won 120,000 Euros, said he expected to break the record, but not by so much. "I knew deep in my head that one day I would get this world record, and today everything fell into place. It was a relief after training for so long. But I couldn't believe the time, I thought I could maybe do low 2:05, but 2:04 was fantastic."

Photo by Victah@PhotoRun.