Eliud Kipchoge is accustomed to leading the pack, but the Kenyan runner is now focused on securing his place in the annals of sporting history at the Paris Olympics.
On Saturday, the 39-year-old will strive to become the first athlete to win three consecutive marathon titles at the Games.
In addition to facing a field of younger competitors, Kipchoge will contend with challenging weather conditions.
Last week, temperatures in Paris soared into the mid-30s Celsius due to extreme heat.
“The course is really tough – about 40% is really hilly – and I think the temperature will contribute a lot,” Kipchoge told BBC Sport Africa. “Even by eight, nine, 10, in the morning, I think it will go up to 30 degrees. It is tough to run a full marathon [in] 30 degrees.
“It will take a lot of time for us to climatise, to prepare the mind to go through that tough temperature on the course.”
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From a starting elevation of 36 metres above sea level in the centre of the city, the route will climb to a peak of 183m on the road to Versailles before a second, sharper ascent to 172m before the 30km mark as the competitors return to Paris.
The race will start at 07:00 local time (06:00 BST), and Kipchoge altered his training regime at his base in Kaptagat in a bid to add another gold medal to his ones from Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020.
“I will keep in my mind about running the hilly course and try to do some runs [in] high temperatures to conduce my body towards Paris,” he explained in an interview during his preparations. “Sometimes timing to train maybe at 10am, 11am to feel that heat.
“It will depend on the day because it might be a faster marathon, it might be slow.
“But [at the] Olympics we don’t consider time.”