Chicago Marathon 2011: Kenyan Moses Mosop Makes History

Kenyan Moses Mosop was suffering from a left Achilles tendon injury heading into Sunday's 2011 Chicago Marathon

Not that it was noticeable.

Mosop broke the Chicago Marathon record on Sunday with a time of 2 hours, 5 minutes, 37 seconds. In addition to winning $100,000 for winning the race, he received a bonus of $50,000 for breaking the record by four seconds.

In a post-race interview with ESPN Mosop said, "My shape was bad. I was worried about my leg."

Riiiiggght.

If we all were so out of shape, we'd be running laps around the world.

This wasn't Mosop's only impressive performance of the year, by the way. He ran the second fastest 26.2 miles in history at the Boston Marathon this year with a time of 2:03:06. The ironic part about that is that fellow Kenyan Geoffrey Mutai actually beat him that day. However, it wasn't entered into the record books because of strong tailwinds on the course.

Mosop also set the world record in the 30,000 meters at the Prefontaine Classic in June. He said that if he was 100 percent this year at the Chicago Marathon he could have run it in 2:02.

Now he's just showing off.

It's hard to doubt he would, though. Nicknamed "Big Engine," Mosop has a way of storming past opponents. Kenyan Wesley Korir broke free from the pack and was leading after 18 miles, but even he knew that wouldn't last.

Said Korir:

"

I knew that I was awakening the lion that was asleep. I knew that and I was ready. I wasn't surprised when he came back. At that moment, I was like, 'OK, I'm going to try to stay behind him,' but he kept going.

"

Mosop, who beat out a field of 37,400 contestants, is quickly making a name for himself. If he keeps this up, we may as well call any marathon he runs the Moses Mosop Marathon.