Eliud Kiptanui

Eliud Kiptanui (born 6 June 1989) is a Kenyan long distance runner who specialises in the marathon.

Contents

Early life

Kiptanui was born and raised in Kaplelach, Uasin Gishu District. He was the first child in a family of six and, like many Kenyans, he studied up to secondary school level.[1]

Kiptanui began to take running seriously after leaving school at 16, using the prize money to help pay for his sibling's education. He was encouraged by his performance in a 15 km in Kenya in 2008, noting that although he finished in ninth place, all those who finished ahead of him were elite runners.[2]

Kiptanui travelled to Norway in July 2009 to compete in the 3000 metres at the Bislett Games, where he finished in fifth position.[3] However, it was a performance in his native Kenya which attracted the attention of athletics manager Volker Wagner. Kiptanui won the Safaricom Marathon in Kisumu in December of that year, winning the race with a time of 2:12:17 and outrunning the second-place finisher by a margin of over seven minutes.[1]

European marathon debut

Kiptanui intended to make his European marathon debut at the Vienna Marathon in April 2010, but his travel schedule was disrupted by the Eyjafjallajökull eruption and he instead settled for the Prague Marathon three weeks later as an alternative. He methodically paced himself in the race and first overtook Denis Ndiso, and then the race favourite Yemane Tsegay. Kiptanui completed the second half of the race faster than the first and was rewarded with a new personal best time and course record of 2:05:39, raising him into the top twenty fastest ever marathon runners in only his second race over the distance.[1] This was in spite of the fact that the Prague course is not typical fast as it contains a several kilometre section of cobblestones. Kiptanui pledged to use the US$75,000 prize money to help his brothers and sisters attend school in Kenya.[2] He was touted as a possible winner at the 2010 Berlin Marathon, but he ended up in fifth place with a time of 2:08:05 while compatriot Patrick Makau took the honours.[4]

His first race of 2011 was the Rotterdam Marathon and came fifth, some minutes off the winner Wilson Chebet.[5]

Achievements

Year Competition Venue Position Notes
Representing  Kenya
2010 Prague Marathon Prague, Czech Republic 1st 2:05:39

References

  1. ^ a b c Butcher, Pat (2010-05-09). Massive breakthrough for Kiptanui - 2:05:39 in Prague. IAAF. Retrieved on 2010-05-22.
  2. ^ a b Butcher, Pat (2010-05-10). After astonishing sub-2:06 run in Prague, Kiptanui no longer an unknown. IAAF. Retrieved on 2010-05-22.
  3. ^ 2009 Bislett Games 3000 Metres - Men. IAAF (2009-07-03). Retrieved on 2010-05-22.
  4. ^ Butcher, Pat (2010-09-26). Makau and Kebede triumph in rainy Berlin. IAAF. Retrieved on 2010-09-26.
  5. ^ van Hemert, Wim (2011-04-10). Chebet impresses with 2:05:27 victory in Rotterdam. IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-04-16.

External links