Speaking to Nation Sport minutes after clocking two hours, three minutes and five seconds to finish second behind race winner Milkesa Mengesha from Ethiopia (2:03:17) in the Abbot World Majors Marathon race, the 32-year-old said he miscalculated his kick in the race and prematurely charged to the front, making himself vulnerable to his Ethiopian opponent in the final stretch of the race. 

“Towards the end, I wanted to make sure that I finished in a podium place but I made a miscalculation. I kicked earlier than I should have. I drained the energy that would have aided me in the last 200m,” said Kotut.

Kotut, who had been leading Mengesha in the race going into the final kilometre, ran out of gas, and the Ethiopian sped past him as they approached the magnificent Brandenburg Gate, denying the 32-year-old victory.

On the eve of the race, 2011 Berlin Marathon champion Patrick Makau had predicted in an interview with NTV that Kotut, the little-known marathon runner from 2 Running Club in Nandi County, would win the men’s race.

Kotut went into the race as the second fastest athlete, with a  personal best time of 2:04:34, and  had only competed in one major marathon race, the 2024 Boston Marathon held in April, where he finished ninth in 2:10:29.

“You know this year I ran the Boston Marathon. It was a good race, but you know Boston is Boston, and things went they way they did. Today, I was like ‘I really want to run," an ecstatic Kotut said amid cheers by Kenyan fans, led by the Kenyan Ambassador to Germany Stella Mokaya and marathon legends Paul Tergat, Tegla Loroupe and Patrick Makau.

“Today, I really wanted to know  whether it was just Boston or my body couldn’t handle the high demands of running a marathon of this magnitude.”

Despite not winning the race,  Kotut was still impressed by hiss performance, having set a new personal best which is one minute and 12 seconds  faster than  the previous one 0f 2:04:32 he clocked while finishing second in 2023 Amsterdam Marathon on October 15 last year.

“I was expecting to lower my PB here but I didn’t expect to run a 2:03 time. I think I managed to lower it significantly because the race was faster than I expected. I dedicate this win to my club, 2 Running Club. I was 50/50 when I was preparing for Berlin Marathon, but they (training mates at 2 Running Club) gave me the confidence and belief that I could do it,” said Kotut.

Daegu Marathon champion, Stephen Kiprop cut off more than three minutes from his previous personal best time to stop the timer at 2:03:37 for fourth place. Kiprop was on course to finish third but couldn’t find the finish touch as Ethiopia’s Ayew Haymanot zoomed past him to finish third in 2:03:31.

Former world half marathon champion and record holder, Kibiwott Kandie was left searching for his first marathon victory after finished 13th in 2:06:46. Kandie only arrived in Berlin on Friday afternoon.

Enock Onchari was the fourth highest as he finished 9th with a time of 2:05:53, Luke Kiprop 12th(2:06:46), Kurgat Stanley (2:07:05).

In the women’s race, Kenya’s Pauline Esikon finished 15th, and her compatriot Veronica Maina did not finish the race due to injury. The women’s podium was all-Ethiopian, Tigist Ketema’s time of 2:16:42 seeing her cross the finish line more than two minutes ahead of Mestawot Fikir and Bosena Mulatie.

Kenyan fans did not disappoint as they cheered their stars from the stands,  among them Ambassador Mokaya, and marathon legends Tergat, Makau and Loroupe who had been invited here as guests by race organisers.

“Kotut looked fit and his morale was very high and I was expecting a very good result from him,” said 2010 and 2011 Berlin Marathon champion Makau.

“That was a great race. We are happy with Kotut’s second place finish and there is always a next time,”  Tergat, who is also National Olympic Committee of Kenya President, observed.