No need to be intelligent, just believe

"Weak people revenge. Strong people forgive. Intelligent people ignore."
Albert Einstein

Ignorant people are more likely to believe they are brilliant, while intelligent people are more likely to underestimate themselves. So, how intelligent are athletes which say they would break world record at Berlin Marathon 2017?

You don't need to answer, yet. Let me tell from another source first. Do you know the book “Self-Help” by Samuel Smiles? He tells us a story about a horseback rider who sees another rider leap gracefully over a tall fence. He was convinced that he can do. Only after two failures, man and horse sails over the fence. So if you believe, you can achieve. No need to be intelligent.

"No matter how many people believe or don’t believe in you, you must be the ultimate believer in yourself."
Pablo Picasso

"I think I am ready. Training has not always been optimal, as we had a lot of rain, so I would put it at 90%." (bmw-berlin-marathon.com - Kenenisa Bekele).

Intelligent answer with a hint of understatement and realism. So what about Eliud Kipchoge and Wilson Kipsan? How do they see themselves?

Wilson Kipsang: “I want to go down in history as one of the runners to break the marathon world record twice. The last time that happened was nine years ago by Haile Gebrselassie.” (bmw-berlin-marathon.com - Wilson Kipsang).

"I’m feeling good - very optimistic to run a fast time, probably a world record and probably win", says Kipsang in runnersworld.co.uk - Wilson Kipsang confident of new marathon world record at Berlin.

Eliud Kipchoge: "I won’t decide until the last moment how fast I will start out. But I can say this: I want the world record." (bmw-berlin-marathon.com - Eliud Kipchogenow).

All three guys want to win the world record. But I can't see in their response that they believe it. May be this believe comes back in their minds during the run. For sure all three will give their best. And for me it is not meaningful if they achieve WR or not. We will see the best performance of the bests in Berlin.

A bird sitting on tree is never afraid of the branch breaking, because it trusts its own wings. So believe in yourself, break your PBT, but keep watching not to break yourself. Running is to create yourself. Become the runner you wish to become.