Kelvin Kiptum

Kelvin Kiptum Cheruiyot (born 2 December 1999) is a Kenyan long-distance runner and the marathon world record holder. Kiptum is the only person in history to run the marathon in under two hours and one minute in a record-eligible race.
Between December 2022 and October 2023, Kiptum ran three of the top six fastest marathons in history in less than a year. In doing so, he also set new Course Records in all three races he competed in.
He ran the fastest-ever marathon debut at the 2022 Valencia Marathon, becoming only the third man in history to break two hours and two minutes and setting the then fourth-quickest time ever. Kiptum followed it up four months later with the then second fastest marathon in history at 2:01:25, 16 seconds outside the world record, in a debut at a World Marathon Major at the 2023 London Marathon. In his next race, the Chicago Marathon six months later in October 2023, he broke the world record by 34 seconds with a time of 2:00:35. Approaching the two-hour barrier, Kiptum was only two seconds short of becoming the first man to run the distance at an average speed greater than 21 km/h.
Early and personal life
Kelvin Kiptum grew up in Chepsamo village, Chepkorio – the high-altitude area (~2550 m) in picturesque Elgeyo-Marakwet County in the Kenyan Rift Valley. Together with nearby counties the region is known as the birthplace of many renowned Kenyan runners and also as a mecca for foreign runners. As a youngster, he herded his family's cattle and began following barefoot other runners along the forest trails. Kiptum started training around 2013, when he was 13 years old. He is married to Asenath Rotich and they have two children.
Career
In 2013, at the age of 13, Kiptum contested his first half marathon, the Family Bank Eldoret Half Marathon in his native Kenya, finishing 10th; he placed 12th the following year. In 2018, the teenager took his first victory, winning this race with a time of 62:01. He was self-coached at the time. Kiptum then debuted on the international stage at the Lisbon Half Marathon, Portugal, in March 2019, finishing fifth with a new personal best of 59:54. He participated also in six other races that year touring the north and west Europe, and winning the tough Kass Half Marathon back home in November. It was reported that in 2020 Kiptum had started working with Rwandan 3000 metres steeplechase record holder Gervais Hakizimana as a coach, although Kiptum supposedly had periodically trained alongside other locals with him since 2013. Since about 2020 he was already preparing for the marathon distance. In December that year, the 21-year-old set significant consecutive lifetime best in the half marathon at 58:42, placing sixth at the Valencia Half Marathon in Spain. In 2021, he ran 59:35 and 59:02 half marathons in Lens, France (first) and Valencia again (eighth), respectively.
2022
In December, 23-year-old Kiptum pulled off an upset when debuting in the classic 42.195 km distance at the Valencia Marathon. Running with a negative split and the quickest second half in history at the time (60:15), he set the then fourth-fastest time ever of 2:01:53 to take the win, becoming only the third man in history to break two hours and two minutes. Only his compatriot and then world record holder Eliud Kipchoge (2:01:09 and 2:01:39) and Ethiopia's Kenenisa Bekele (2:01:41) had run faster up to that point. Kiptum's winning time was by far the fastest marathon debut ever, smashing the course record by over a minute. He also beat runner-up by more than a minute and the 2022 world marathon champion Tamirat Tola, pre-race favourite, among others.
2023
In his following race, a debut in a World Marathon Major at the London Marathon in April, Kiptum triumphed decisively with the then second-fastest mark in history at 2:01:25, a course record which was only 16 seconds outside the world record. Achieving a negative split again, with the 61:40 first half of the race, he broke from the field after the 30 km mark and completed the final half in 59:45, the fastest half marathon in a full marathon race ever up to that point (13:49 from 30k to 35k at a swift 2:46 pace = 21.71 km/h for a total of 27:50 from 30k to 40k). He beat second-placed compatriot Geoffrey Kamworor, who comes from the same village and had inspired young Kiptum to athletics, by nearly three minutes and Kipchoge's course record of 2:02:37 by more than a minute.
In his following race, being his third marathon and a second World Marathon Major at the Chicago Marathon on 8 October – still aged 23, Kiptum set a new world record with a time of 2:00:35, slicing 34 seconds off Kipchoge's standard set in 2022 in Berlin and obliterating the course record by more than three minutes. Kiptum negative split again but this time the first half was covered in 60:48, almost a minute faster than in London, and he had the stamina to run his second half at 59:47 – only two seconds slower than in London, where he set the quickest half marathon in a full marathon race. As in the England capital, he ran the fastest roughly between 30k and 35k checkpoints. He beat the runner-up – his compatriot Benson Kipruto – by almost three and a half minutes.
Training regimen
Following Kiptum's record-breaking performance in October 2023, his coach provided insight on the athlete's training regimen. Gervais Hakizimana stated that Kiptum logged 250 to 280 km (155-173 mi) per week in the lead-up to that year's London Marathon in April. His routine regularly featured daily morning runs spanning 25-28 km, track or fartlek workouts on Tuesdays and Saturdays, and intense long runs of 30-40 km at close to marathon pace on Thursdays and Sundays. He trained alternately in his home high-altitude area of Chepkorio (~2550 m) and Kerio Valley (800–1200 m) located to the north-east before Chicago Marathon.
Achievements
Information from World Athletics profile and rankings. Note that personal bests are given with their current status while statuses and positions on the all-time top list shown in the competition record section are provided as of date they were achieved. Course record statuses according to sources cited in the article.
Personal bests
10,000 metres – 28:27.87 (Stockholm 2021)
Road
10 kilometres – 28:17 (Utrecht 2019)
Half marathon – 58:42 (Valencia 2020)
Marathon – 2:00:35 WR (Chicago 2023)
Marathon competition record
References
External links
1999 births
Living people
Kenyan male long-distance runners
Kenyan male marathon runners
People from Uasin Gishu County
Sportspeople from Rift Valley Province
Kalenjin people