Eliud Kipchoge’s world record in the Berlin marathon with his record of 2:01:09 leaves the Kenyan athlete as a great protagonist for his incredible achievementalthough there were also many people who were part of the success of the Kenyan athlete: from the ‘hares’ who went with him for much of the journey to one of the most viral figures in recent hours: his water carrier during the marathon, the German Claus-Henning Schulke.
Schulke, a 56-year-old German triathlete, was in charge of supplying Kipchoge with supplies throughout the event, giving him drums up to 13 times cycling to each of the refreshment points. An action that also encouraged Kipchoge, just as it conveyed Schulke’s joy and celebration every time he fulfilled his task and, in turn, encouraged the Kenyan to continue in his challenge for the world record that he finally managed to beat.
“Bottle Claus”, as he has already been baptized for his work as a water carrier, gave an interview to the German newspaper Zeit in which he analyzed how it has become a viral phenomenon. “It all started in 2018, when I also accompanied Eliud on his world record. I’ve done this job for 25 years, but I’m a very emotional person and it went viral. I recently read a phrase that described my work well and put them in perspective: ‘I have never seen such a stir about a man passing a bottle to another man’”.
Schaulke was also proud to have been part of this Kipchoge record. “A world record like yours, as Eliud said, is a team effort. In addition to the tens of thousands of kilometers he has run, the equipment must be adequate. It’s like a puzzle and just being a piece of it, I’m delighted.”
The German highlighted how he lived each provisioning of Kipchoge. “The shouts of encouragement came out unconsciously, although they were also tense moments for me. Kipchoge is coming at you at more than 20 kilometers per hour and you think ‘I hope it goes well’. It is a relief for me when I successfully give him the bottle. There were two critical moments, at kilometer 5, when they were all together, and at kilometer 17.5, when I gave him a bottle, when I gave him a bottle in a second, but otherwise it was amazing. When I finished my work at kilometer 40 I took a deep breath.
“Bottle Claus” also wanted to reveal one of his secrets to deliver the bottles to Kipchoge. “I was lucky to meet Eliud already. We make ourselves known in two ways, yelling and signaling to the athlete, but he has to get close enough to be able to grab the bottle. This year I came up with a trick: I stuck the name of the athlete on my arm and put a little red light on my arm so that he could see that light when it was time to get supplies, as if it were the star of Bethlehem”. This is Claus-Henning Schulke, Kipchoge’s ‘guardian angel’ in his marathon world record.