Sammy Korir

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Sammy Korir (born December 12, 1971) is a long-distance runner from Kenya, who raced into the history books as only the second man ever to run under 2 hours, 5 minutes, when he finished second in the Berlin Marathon on September 28, 2003: 2:04:56. Korir was beaten by his countryman and the new world record holder Paul Tergat by one second.

The description that has followed Korir around ever since that Sunday in September, 2003, is that of the second fastest marathoner in history. A member of the same training group as Paul Tergat in Kenya, Korir was originally engaged as a pacemaker for Berlin that year but felt stronger as the race went on. So strong, in fact, that it was all-out competition between the duo through the Brandenburg Gate and across the finish line with only a second between them.

He’d had plenty of experience at the marathon prior to Berlin, winning often enough to be cast as the kind of runner race promoters would choose to produce a consistent performance. In London the next year he was vying for the win with compatriot Evans Rutto when the former slipped on a corner after rain, bringing Korir down with him. Both recovered but Korir, coached by Italian Gabriele Rosa, finished runner-up once again.

[edit] Marathon achievements

Date	Marathon	Venue	Result	Time
April 20, 1996	Rotterdam Marathon	Rotterdam, Netherlands	3rd	2:08:02
December 15, 1996	Cancún Marathon	Cancún, Mexico	1st	2:12:33
November 1, 1998	Amsterdam Marathon	Amsterdam, Netherlands	1st	2:08:13
May 2, 1999	Turin Marathon	Turin, Italy	1st	2:08:27
April 22, 2001	Rotterdam Marathon	Rotterdam, Netherlands	3rd	2:08:14
June 2, 2002	Rock 'n' Roll Marathon	San Diego, California, USA	1st	2:09:02
October 20, 2002	Amsterdam Marathon	Amsterdam, Netherlands	5th	2:08:10
September 28, 2003	Berlin Marathon	Berlin, Germany	2nd	2:04:56
April 18, 2004	London Marathon	London, United Kingdom	2nd	2:06:49
October 9, 2005	Chicago Marathon	Chicago, United States	9th	2:10:53
February 12, 2006	Tokyo Marathon	Tokyo, Japan	3rd	2:10:07
April 9, 2006	Rotterdam Marathon	Rotterdam, Netherlands	1st	2:06:38