At the 2007 IAAF World Road Running Championships he finished third and was part of the Kenyan team that won the team race. He won the 2007 Rotterdam Half Marathon and made his full marathon debut later that year, taking victory at the Milan Marathon in December. He had previously beaten elite fields and runners such as namesake Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot. In his second outing over the full distance, he won the Chicago Marathon held on October 12, 2008 with a time of 2:06:25.