It seems that every year, the runners of the Berlin Marathon get faster and more determined. This year was no exception as Dennis Kimetto not only took the win, besting last year’s winner, Wilson Kipsang by 26 seconds, but he also set a world record.

Even though Kimetto clocked an impressive 2:02:57, his fellow countryman, Emmanuel Mutai kept the competition close until the last 5K, when Kimetto was finally able to break away. Mutai crossed the finish line second with a time of 2:03:13, also beating Kipsang’s previous record.

Part of the reason that runners of the Berlin Marathon have broken so many records has to do with the mostly flat course, as well as the commonly mild weather. On Sunday, the skies were clear and sunny and temperatures hovered around 45 degrees.

But that doesn’t make Kimetto’s four-minute, 41-second mile any less impressive. After dropping out of this year’s Boston Marathon in April because of a hamstring injury, many doubted the 30-year-old had such a performance left in him, but Kimetto remained confident. “Today is a big day for me,” he told The New York Times after the race, “The fans made me confident, and I thought I could do it.”

The women’s race was bit more disheartening, as American Shalane Flanagan, who had aimed to set an American record for the course, came up short. Still, she finished third, with a personal best of 2:21;14. First and second place went to Tirfi Tsegaye and Feyse Tadese from Ethiopia, but Flanagan told reporters after the race that she had no regrets about her performance. “I left everything I had on the course,” Flanagan told NBC Sports. “As you could tell, I was struggling the last 5km to keep my momentum. Sometimes we have to push ourselves and put ourselves out there and be subject to failure before we have the big, breakthrough success.”

One thing is for sure—as speeds increase, breaking the two-hour barrier seems not only possible, but probable. “From what I saw today, times are coming down and down,” Mutai told the press. “So if not today, then tomorrow.”

As for Kimetto, he has no plans of slowing down, “I felt good from the start and in the last few miles I felt I could do it and break the record,” he told NPR in a post-race interview. “I believe I can improve it further. I’d like to return and try to break it again next year.”

Watch his triumph below:

Image courtesy of cobeey/YouTube.