Justus Kangogo during an interview after training at Moi University School of Law, Annex Campus ground in Eldoret, Uasin Gishu County on September 05, 2023 in readiness for Berlin Marathon in Germany slated for September 24.
Last year, Kenyan marathoner Justus Kangogo set himself a target of running the Berlin Marathon in less than two hours and five minutes.
He went on to achieve that, running a personal best time of 2:05:57 to finish 15th overall.
But Kangogo is not one to be satisfied with achieving his personal best. He wants to do much more than that when he takes to the streets of Berlin on Sunday.
Iten-based Kangogo started his career as a pacemaker before venturing out to the full marathon races.
In the 49th edition of the Berlin Marathon held in September last year, Kangogo clocked 2:05:57 seconds to finish in 15th. On Sunday, he wants to run a minute faster , and possibly end up on the podium.
“Last year I had planned to finish the race in a sub-2:05 time, and I achieved that. This year, I’m looking forward to lowering that time by one minute, and I believe it is achievable because I have prepared well for this race. Something good is on the horizon,” he told Nation Sport before leaving for Berlin.
With about a week to the D-day, Kangogo is banking on extensive preparation to perform well in Berlin.
“This year, I don’t have a problem with my fitness compared to last year when I competed with an injury on my knee but thankfully I managed to finish the race, thereby improving on my personal best. As an athlete, sometimes injuries cause a lot of problems to us with regard to the plans that we make,” added Kangogo.
The soft-spoken Kangogo believes he now has good experience on the course, and is sure to perform better when he competes on Sunday.
“This year, I head to the race a confident athlete because I know how the course looks like, compared to last year. When I competed in the race last year, I was worried and uncertain. I didn’t know how the race would unfold, but now I know better. It is more competitive this year, given that we have more Ethiopians also competing. We shall do our best in the race as Kenyans, and see what happens when we cross the finish line,” he said.
If he achieves the dream of finishing among the top athletes, Kangogo shall have made a significant step towards joining the league of high profile marathon runners.
The 28-year-old whose career is a decade old began as a training pace maker for some of the top athletes in Iten. He has paced for former London and New York Marathon champion Mary Keitany.
He set foot in Iten in 2013, and joined a group of athletes training. He soon started competing in various local races, and made some money to support himself.
“I arrived in Iten in 2023 but in 2014, I decided to run as an independent athlete. Most of the races I participated in were local, but I managed to buy for myself the parcel of land where I still live today. I remember I firstfinished second in Chemususu Half Marathon race, which opened doors for me because I started getting invitations to many other races,” he said.
This year, Kangogo took part in the Daegu Marathon in South Korea where he finished eighth. He finished second in 2024 Rio Half Marathon in Brazil.
Berlin Marathon is one of the six races in the World Marathon Major (WMM) Series.
Already three have been held; Tokyo Marathon (March 3), Boston Marathon (April 15) and London Marathon (April 21), while three more - Berlin Marathon (September 29), Chicago Marathon (October 13) and New York City Marathon (November 3) - are yest to be held.
