He did it! Ethiopian runner Haile Gebrselassie broke the world marathon record of 2:04:55 today in Berlin, with a time of 2:04:26. He announced almost two months ago that he would try to break the record, and now he has done it. Gebrselassie is the greatest runner I have ever seen, and I’ve been following track and field since I was a teenager.

Addendum: Gebrselassie averaged 12.64 miles per hour. The previous recordholder, Kenyan Paul Tergat, averaged 12.59. Gebrselassie’s mile pace was 4:44.75, compared to Tergat’s 4:45.86. How many people in the world can run a mile in 4:44.75, much less 26.21875 of them? I have chills.