Benjamin Kolum Kiptoo (born 1979) is a Kenyan professional

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of kilometres ( 26 mi 385 yd), usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There ...

runner. He has won marathons in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

and

Chuncheon Chuncheon (; ; literally ''spring river''), formerly romanized as Ch'unch'ŏn, is the capital of Gangwon Province, South Korea. The city lies in the north of the country, located in a basin formed by the Soyang River and Han River (Korea), Han R ...

, and represented Kenya at the

2009 World Championships in Athletics The 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics () were held in Berlin, Germany from 15 to 23 August 2009. The majority of events took place in the Olympiastadion, while the marathon and racewalking events started and finished at the Brandenbu ...

. He holds a personal best of 2:06:31 for the distance, set en route to victory at the 2011

Paris Marathon The Paris Marathon () is an annual marathon (sport), marathon hosted by the city of Paris, France. It is the largest running event in France in terms of finishers and is typically among the five largest marathons in the world. The marathon begi ...

. He also holds the fastest ever time recorded on Italian soil (2:07:17), with which he won the 2009

Rome City Marathon The Rome Marathon is an annual marathon competition hosted by the city of Rome, Italy. History The competition has also doubled as the Italian Marathon championships on two occasions; in 1983 and 1986. The race date was shifted from the t ...

Career

Born in

Kapsabet Kapsabet is a town in Kenya. It is the capital of Nandi County and is located 40 kilometres southwest of Eldoret on the way to Chavakali. The name Kapsabet comes from "Kap"- 'belong to/area of' and "sabit" or "sobet" – 'live' and has come ...

, Kenya, he was introduced to elite coach Claudio Berardelli by a friend and became part of the same training group as

Martin Lel Martin Kiptolo Lel (born 29 October 1978) is a Kenyan professional long distance and marathon runner. He won the London Marathon in 2005, 2007, and 2008, the New York City Marathon in 2003 and 2007 and the Great North Run in 2007 and 2009. His ...

. He started his career as a

pacemaker A pacemaker, also known as an artificial cardiac pacemaker, is an implanted medical device that generates electrical pulses delivered by electrodes to one or more of the chambers of the heart. Each pulse causes the targeted chamber(s) to co ...

for

road races Road racing is a North American term to describe motorsport racing held on a paved road surface. The races can be held on a closed circuit—generally, a purpose-built racing facility—or on a street circuit that uses temporarily closed public ...

and it was in the process of these duties that he completed his first marathon – he paced athletes at the 2006

Florence Marathon The Florence Marathon () is an annual full-length marathon race held in late November in Florence, Italy, since 1984. History Established in 1984, the international competition has significantly grown in size since its inaugural edition of 462 ru ...

, where he was seventh with a time of 2:16:08 for the distance. The following year he was fourth at the Brescia Marathon and then improved his best to 2:12:24 to take second place at the Lausanne Marathon. A return to the Brescia race in 2008 proved to be a pivotal point for his career as he topped the podium for the first time. Completing the race seven seconds outside of the course record, he sliced over three minutes off his previous best to win the race in 2:09:23.Sampaolo, Diego (2008-04-20)
Kiptoo breaks 2:10 in Brescia

IAAF World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation and International Association of Athletics Federations and formerly abbreviated as the IAAF, is the international sports governing body, governing body for the sport ...

. Retrieved on 2010-10-27. More success followed at the

Beijing Marathon The Beijing Marathon () is an annual marathon race held around October in Beijing, People's Republic of China, since 1981. The race begins at Tiananmen Square and finishes in Celebration Square in Olympic Green. The full marathon is the only ...

in October as a front-running performance brought him his second win of the year. His strong form continued into 2009 as he took his third consecutive win over the distance at the

Rome Marathon The Rome Marathon is an annual marathon competition hosted by the city of Rome, Italy. History The competition has also doubled as the Italian Marathon championships on two occasions; in 1983 and 1986. The race date was shifted from the t ...

in March. His winning time of 2:07:17 was not just a significant personal best and course record – it was the fastest marathon time ever to be recorded in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. He was selected for the Kenyan team at the

, representing his country internationally for the first time in the men's marathon. However, he was soon left behind by the leading pack and dropped out of the race before the 30 km mark while his teammates went on to secure the Marathon World Cup. His third race of the year was the

Frankfurt Marathon The Frankfurt Marathon (official name as of 2016: Mainova Frankfurt Marathon, until 2015: BMW Frankfurt Marathon, until 2010: Commerzbank Frankfurt Marathon) is a marathon which has taken place every year in Frankfurt am Main since its inception i ...

and he finished in a relatively quick time of 2:10:07, although this was only enough for seventh place as the winner Gilbert Kirwa entered the all-time top twenty runners. He participated in the 2010

and led the pack at the 35 km mark, eventually taking fourth place in 2:08:01 – the second fastest run of his career at that time. The

Chuncheon Marathon The Chuncheon International Marathon () is an annual marathon race which is held in late October in the city of Chuncheon, South Korea. First held in 1946, it is the second oldest marathon in the country after the Seoul International Marathon. Spo ...

was his next challenge that year and he broke

Moses Tanui Moses Tanui (born 20 August 1965 in Sugoi, Nandi District, Kenya) is a former Kenyan long-distance runner who won the gold medal over 10,000 metres at the 1991 World Championships in Athletics in Tokyo. Biography At the 1993 World Championships ...

's thirteen-year-old course record by over a minute to clinch victory over

Deriba Merga Deriba Merga Ejigu (; born 26 October 1980) is an Ethiopian professional long-distance runner. He mainly competes in the marathon. He finished fourth in that event at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and went on to win the Boston Marathon the followin ...

and

Benson Barus Benson Kipchumba Barus (born 4 July 1980) is a Kenyan long-distance runner who competes in marathon and half marathon competitions. He has a personal best of 2:07:07 hours for the distance, set at the 2011 Prague Marathon, which he won. He als ...

. He made a step up in his career at his following race, as he won the 2011 Paris Marathon with a new best of 2:06:31 hours – the fourth fastest recorded on the elite course. His next race came at the

Honolulu Marathon The Honolulu Marathon (branded JAL Honolulu Marathon for sponsorship reasons) is a marathon (26.2 miles or 42.2km) in Honolulu, Hawaii. It was first held on December 16, 1973, and it typically takes places on the second Sunday in December. The ma ...

, but he managed only fifth place in a relatively slow time of 2:19:21 hours. He was 23rd at the 2012 Paris race but a third place at the

JoongAng Seoul Marathon The JoongAng Seoul Marathon is an annual footrace that takes place in Seoul, South Korea, usually in early November. First held in 1999, the race was established as a commemoration of Olympic marathon race which was held as part of the 1988 Seo ...

in a time of 2:10:35 marked a revival in form.Kurdyumova, Yelena & Porada, Sergey (2012-11-04)
Kwambai defends, clocks 2:05:50 course record in Seoul
IAAF. Retrieved on 2013-02-11.

References

External links

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profile {{DEFAULTSORT:Kiptoo, Benjamin 1979 births Living people Athletes from Nandi County Kenyan male long-distance runners Kenyan male marathon runners Paris Marathon male winners