London Marathon: Third fastest man Kelvin Kiptum chases another first
Kevin Kiptum, Valencia Marathon Champion, who will be competing at London Marathon on April 23, 2023, during an interview at Chepkorio in Elgeyo Marakwet County on April 14, 2023.
What you need to know:
- Until December 4 last year, the name, Kelvin Kiptum, was little known.
Until December 4 last year, the name, Kelvin Kiptum, was little known.
In fact, he was not considered amongst the big names in a long list of the fearsome Kenyan long distance runners who routinely swept away rivals in every road race they participate in.
But that has changed. The genesis was at the 42nd edition of the Valencia Marathon in the Spanish city, on December 4.
Kiptum, a 23-year-old runner with deep ambition to excel, took the world by surprise in winning the race in a stupendous time of 2hr 1 min and 53 sec.
This made him the third fastest marathoner of all time, placing him right behind world record holder Eliud Kipchoge (2:01:09) and Ethiopian legend Kenenisa Bekele (2:01:41).
What made Kiptum’s feat even more remarkable was this: Valencia was his first competitive marathon race and he also ran the fastest time for a marathon debut.
Who was this young man who had threatened to break the world record?
Nor surprising he has received his first Marathon Majors invite.
He will be lining up on Sunday with some of the world’s best runners.
When Nation Sport caught up with the rising star last Friday in Chepkorio village in Elgeyo Marakwet, the soft-spoken Kiptum, even with the tag of, the third fastest marathon runner in history, said he still had his work cut out to excel in London.
“It is my first Majors marathon and with such a race that has big athletes and world beaters, I have to run with caution because I don’t know what the course has to offer. But I’m looking forward to a good run on Sunday,” said Kiptum.
The race is coming a week after Evans Chebet and Hellen Obiri stormed to victory at this year’s Boston Marathon.
Coincidentally, Kiptum will be competing against his Chepkorio village neighbour Geoffrey Kamworor. Incidentally, Kiptum says it is Kamworor who inspired him to join athletics after seeing “the man for all surfaces’’ training in the village.
The neighbours will also be battling it out with the defending champion Amos Kipruto in a race that promises fireworks.
“Racing with these guys in the same race motivates me and we shall run as a team but the road will decided who is stronger than the other,” said Kiptum.
The Kenyan trio will be competing against formidable Ethiopians lead by the great Kenenisa Bekele (PB 2:01:41), Birhanu Legese (2:02:48), Mosinet Geremew (2:02:55), Tamirat Tola (2:03:39), Kinde Atanaw (2:03:51), Leul Gebresilase (2:04:02) and Seifu Tura (2:04:29).
Briton’s Mo Farah (2:05:11), Yuki Kawauchi (2:07:27) from Japan and Australia’s Brett Robinson (2:07:31) are also in the line up.
Kiptum, meanwhile, is quite popular at his training base in Chepkorio.
The Nation Sport news crew would hardly move five steps in the small township before groups of people mobbed Kiptum to exchange pleasantries and inquire about his London Marathon preparations.
Kiptum confessed he had been training in Chepkorio since he started dreaming of becoming a star athlete and therefore almost everybody at the centre knew him.
As we settled for an interview at the village market, a curious group of onlookers gathered around to witness what they confessed was the first media interview to be granted to one of their own.
Will he be interviewed as a race winner after the London Marathon?
