Felix Limo

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2006 London Marathon winner Limo (left) and 2005, 2007 & 2008 winner Martin Lel (right) in 2006
Limo at the Berlin Marathon 2011

Felix Limo (born August 22, 1980) is a Kenyan former long-distance runner, who specialized in the marathon.

Limo held the 15 Kilometres road running world record from November 2001 to November 2010, where he lost the record to Leonard Komon.[1] Limo set his record of 41:29 minutes in Nijmegen, the Netherlands when winning the Zevenheuvelenloop race. Deriba Merga of Ethiopia equalled the time in 2009.[2]

He won the Portugal Half Marathon in 2002. He debuted at the 2003 Amsterdam Marathon, finishing second timing 2:06.42, only three seconds slower than William Kipsang, who set a course record.[3]

Limo has achieved victory at the 2005 Chicago Marathon, as well as at Berlin and Rotterdam in 2004. In winning the 2004 Rotterdam Marathon, he ran arguably his strongest effort, setting his personal best of 2:06:14. Not only was that the eleventh fastest marathon ever run, but it was achieved on a very windy day.[4] Limo withdrew from a possible defense of his Chicago Marathon title due to back pain, and the 2006 race was won by Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot.

He won the 2006 London Marathon in a time of 2:06:39, the third fastest of 2006. He returned the following year and recorded 2:07:47 for third place.

His performances deteriorated significantly from 2008 onwards as he rarely bettered two hours and ten minutes. In 2008 he was eighth in London and fifth in Fukuoka. His 2009 saw little improvement as he came tenth in London and then seventh in Seoul. His sole competition in 2010 was the Vienna Marathon and his time of 2:11:34 brought him seventh place.[5] Limo was sixth at the 2011 Tokyo Marathon, finishing in a time of 2:10:50.[6]

He decided to retire from the sport at the start of 2013. Back problems had reduced his capacity to train and he felt the very top level was now beyond him: "I feel confident I could still run marathons in 2:09 or 2:10 [but] those times are not going to get me into the top three of the best marathons these days". He paid tribute to his coach, Patrick Sang, and said that he hoped to spend more time with his family and managing his business portfolio.[7]

Felix is not related to world champion Richard Limo, but might be distantly related to another Kenyan runner, Benjamin Limo.[8]

Achievements

Representing  Kenya
2004 Rotterdam Marathon Rotterdam, Netherlands 1st Marathon 2:06:14
Berlin Marathon Berlin, Germany 1st Marathon 2:06:44
2005 Chicago Marathon Chicago, United States 1st Marathon 2:07:02
2006 London Marathon London, United Kingdom 1st Marathon 2:06:39

References

  1. ↑ "Komon breaks World 15Km record in Nijmegen". www.iaaf.org (IAAF). 2010-11-21. Retrieved 2010-11-21. 
  2. ↑ IAAF World Records
  3. ↑ Time-to-run.com: Amsterdam Marathon 2003 results
  4. ↑ IAAF, April 4, 2004: Felix Limo sets course record of 2:06:14 in Rotterdam Marathon
  5. ↑ Limo Felix. Marathon Info. Retrieved on 2011-02-27.
  6. ↑ Nakamura, Ken (2011-02-27). Mekonnen triumphs in Tokyo in 2:07:35. IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-02-27.
  7. ↑ Minshull, Phil (2013-01-10). Kenyan marathon man and former 15km world record holder Felix Limo retires. IAAF. Retrieved on 2013-02-18.
  8. ↑ IAAF, August 25, 2000: Not even the elements can stop Jones

External links

Sporting positions
Preceded by
Belgium Mohammed Mourhit		 Men's Zevenheuvelenloop Winner (15 km)
2000 – 2001 		Succeeded by
Netherlands Kamiel Maase
Preceded by
Kenya Evans Rutto		 Men's Chicago Marathon winner
2005 		Succeeded by
Kenya Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot
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