List of races the late Kelvin Kiptum won before breaking the marathon World Record
Kenya’s Kelvin Kiptum, 24, gained world fame when he broke follow compatriot Eliud Kipchoge’s World Record in marathon running on October 8, 2023. He clocked 2:00:35 at the Chicago Marathon, breaking Kipchoge’s 2022 World Record of 2:01:09 clocked during the 2022 Berlin Marathon.
Sadly, his marathon World Record victory lap was short lived when he was involved in a single vehicle traffic accident on February 11, 2024, and lost his life alongside his Rwandan coach, Gervais Hazikimana. A female passenger survived the same accident.
The late Kiptum’s funeral service and burial was held days later on Friday, February 23, in Elgeyo Marakwet. The event was graced by a host of politicians, local and international athletics representatives at his home in Keiyo South Constituency.
As he was eulogized, it emerged that prior to breaking the world record, he had won several other races both locally and internationally. Nairobi News now lists the races below since he began his sports career at the age of 10:
- 2019 Eldoret Kass Marathon
- 2020 Kakamega Forest Half Marathon
- 2022 Valencia Marathon in Spain where he clocked 2:01:53
- 2023 London Marathon where he clocked 2:01:27
- 2023 Chicago Marathon where he clocked 2:00:35 to break the World Record
His eulogy also stated that he was recorded as “the fastest debut Marathon in history” between January and October 2022; and recorded three of the seven fastest times in history in three marathons which he won.
“As he was preparing for his next two races to come later this year, Kiptum was not resting. He was training hard, starting every day from Flourspar to Kaptagat Forest to cover 42km from 4am to 6am (in less that 2 hours) through winding hills and steep terrain. He had real aspirations of becoming the first man to officially achieve below 2 hours marathon race in the world,” read the eulogy.
Eliud Kipchoge currently holds the unofficial record of running a marathon in under two hours- and the late Kitpum aimed to officially break this record.
In the same eulogy booklet, it was revealed that Kelvin’s heart was stuck on athletics despite his father urging him to study Electrical Engineering at the Chepkorio Vocational Training College.
“The late Kiptum was an active member of athletics during primary school games and he won several competitions both at Zonal, Sub-County and some times at County level. After completing primary school, his father convinced him to begin electrical studies…but he preferred to devote his attention to athletics, intent on becoming the latest Kenyan World marathoner from the Great Rift Valley,” added the eulogy.
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