Joseph Ebuya (born 20 June 1987) is a Kenyan professional runner who specialises in the

5000 metres The 5000 metres or 5000-metre run is a common long-distance running event in track and field, approximately equivalent to or . It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics, run over laps of a sta ...

and was the

2010 IAAF World Cross Country Championships The 2010 IAAF World Cross Country Championships were held at Myślęcinek Park in Bydgoszcz, Poland on 28 March 2010. It was the first time in over twenty years that Poland hosted the annual championships, having previously held them in Warsaw in ...

champion.

Early life and career

Ebuya is a rare example of a runner representing the

Turkana people The Turkana are a Nilotic people native to the Turkana County in northwest Kenya, a semi-arid climate region bordering Lake Turkana in the east, Pokot, Rendille and Samburu people to the south, Uganda to the west, South Sudan to the north-w ...

. He was born in Baragoi, but moved with his family from place to place, including

Rumuruti Rumuruti is a town in Laikipia County in Kenya's former Rift Valley Province. It is approximately 40 kilometers due north of Nyahururu, on the Nyahururu- Maralal road ( A4). Despite being smaller than either Nanyuki or Nyahururu, which are on the ...

and

Nyahururu Nyahururu (formerly known as Thomson Falls) is a town in Kenya, lying north east of Nakuru. The town derives its name from the Maasai word e-naiwurruwurr, meaning waterfall or windy or place of storms. It is located in both Laikipia County and ...

. He is based at the PACE Sports Management training camp in

Kaptagat Kaptagat is a settlement in Uasin Gishu County, in the southwestern part of Kenya. This part of the country, where the two counties of Uasin Gishu and Elgeyo Marakwet County share a border, is used by the majority of Kenyan professional long-d ...

. His sister, Alice Aprot, is also a runner and an African champion. Kenenisa Bekele Golden League Paris 2006

He began running competitively in 2003 after having seen

Benjamin Limo Benjamin Kipkoech Limo (born 23 August 1974 in Chepkongony, Uasin Gishu) is a Kenyan former middle- and long-distance runner. His races ranged distances from 1500 m to 10,000 m, but Limo mainly competed in 5000 metres, where he has won intern ...

(among others), doing training runs. Ebuya looked to follow and emulate Limo. Ebuya began to reach the elite level in 2005, representing the

Rift Valley Province Rift Valley Province () of Kenya, bordering Uganda, was one of Kenya's eight provinces, before the 2013 Kenyan general election. Rift Valley Province was the largest and one of the most economically important provinces in Kenya. It was dominated ...

at the Kenyan Championships before heading to the European track and field circuit. Quick performances over

in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

led to an appearance at the

Memorial van Damme The Memorial Van Damme is an annual athletics event at the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels, Belgium, that takes place in late August or early September. Previously one of the IAAF Golden League events, it now serves as a final event of the D ...

Golden League meeting later that season.James Wokabi and Mutwiri Mutuota (22 March 2008)
Focus on Athletes – Joseph Ebuya

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 24 October 2010. His first opportunity to compete internationally for Kenya came at the

2006 Commonwealth Games The 2006 Commonwealth Games, officially the XVIII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Melbourne 2006, were an International sport, international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth held in Melbourne ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

and he just finished outside of the medals in the

, beaten into fourth place by

Fabiano Joseph Naasi Fabiano Joseph Naasi (born December 24, 1985, in Babati, Manyara) is a Tanzanian long-distance runner. International competitions Road running competitions *2006 Bogota Half Marathon – 1st IAAF website, July 31, 2008Joseph and Ndereba ...

. The following month he ran in the junior race at the 2006 IAAF World Cross Country Championships. Again he was fourth, this time beaten by

Tariku Bekele Tariku Bekele Beyecha (Amharic: ታሪኩ በቀለ; born 28 February 1987) is an Ethiopian professional long-distance runner, who specializes in the 5,000 metres and has moved up to 10.000 metres as well. He is the younger brother of Kenenis ...

), although he shared in the team victory with Mangata Ndiwa and

Leonard Komon Leonard Patrick Komon (born 10 January 1988) is a Kenyan professional long-distance runner and was the world record holder in the 10 kilometres. His 10K world record in 2010 with a time of 26:44 is a 17 seconds improvement on the previous bes ...

. Success awaited him on the track at the

2006 World Junior Championships in Athletics The 2006 World Junior Championships in Athletics is the 2006 version of the World Junior Championships in Athletics. It was held from 15 August to 20 August at the Chaoyang Sports Centre in Beijing, the capital of the People's Republic of China ...

, as he took the

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receives ...

over 5000 m. He was called upon to compete in the

10,000 metres The 10,000 metres or the 10,000-metre run is a common long-distance track running event. The event is part of the athletics programme at the Olympic Games and the World Athletics Championships, and is common at championship-level events. The ...

as Kenya's representative

Thomas Longosiwa Thomas Pkemei Longosiwa (born January 14, 1982) is a Kenyan professional athlete who has competed at the two Olympics, winning a bronze medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics. He is also the Kenyan 5000 metres champion from 2007.IAAF, June 17, 2007Kipr ...

was found to be overage. The situation worked in Ebuya's favour as he ran a personal best of 28:53.46 which brought him the

silver medal A silver medal, in sports and other similar areas involving competition, is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, ...

behind Ethiopian teenager

Ibrahim Jeilan Ibrahim Jeilan Gashu (Amharic: ዒብራሂም ጅእላን ጋሹ; born 12 June 1989) is an Ethiopian professional long-distance runner who specialises in the 5000 metres and 10,000 metres on the track, as well as cross country running. He is ...

. Eighth place at the

2006 IAAF World Athletics Final The 4th IAAF World Athletics Final was held at the Gottlieb-Daimler-Stadion in Stuttgart, Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the ...

rounded off his first season of international competition. He had mixed fortunes in 2007: he missed out on a place in the Kenyan world cross country team, although he secured a place in the 5000 m for the

2007 World Championships in Athletics The 11th World Championships in Athletics, () under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), were held at Nagai Stadium in Osaka, Japan from 24 August to 2 September 2007. 200 of the IAAF's 212 member feder ...

by finishing as runner-up at the Kenyan track trials. He misjudged his run in the heats at the championships, however, and a decision to stick within the pack in a slow race saw him out-sprinted and eliminated in the first round. He sought to make up for his abortive start at the senior global level by focusing on the circuit. He was in the top four in two Golden League meets and went on to take a silver medal over

3000 metres The 3000 metres or 3000-metre run is a track running event, also commonly known as the "3K" or "3K run", where 7.5 laps are run around an outdoor 400 m track, or 15 laps around a 200 m indoor track. It is debated whether the 3000 m sho ...

at the

2007 IAAF World Athletics Final The 5th IAAF World Athletics Final was held at the Gottlieb-Daimler-Stadion in Stuttgart, Germany on September 22 and September 23, 2007. Results Men Women See also * 2007 in athletics (track and field) References ;Results2007 IAAF Wo ...

World Cross Country gold

He was fourth in the senior race at the

2008 IAAF World Cross Country Championships The 2008 IAAF World Cross Country Championships took place on March 30, 2008. The races were held at the Holyrood Park in Edinburgh, United Kingdom. Four races took place, one for men, women, junior men and junior women respectively. All race ...

, helping Kenya to the team gold. He ran in the 5000 m 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 ...

and reached the final, although he placed thirteenth in the race. He signalled his strong form at the start of 2010 with a win at the Great Edinburgh Cross Country, beating elite opposition in

Eliud Kipchoge Eliud Kipchoge (born 5 November 1984) is a Kenyan long-distance runner who competes in the marathon and formerly specialized in the 5000 metres. Kipchoge is the Athletics at the 2016 Summer Olympics – Men's marathon, 2016 and Athletics at th ...

and

Kenenisa Bekele Kenenisa Bekele Beyecha (; ; born 13 June 1982) is an Ethiopian Long-distance running, long-distance runner. He was the world record holder in both the 5000 metres, 5,000-metre and 10000 metres, 10,000-metre from 2004 until 2020. He won the go ...

. He followed this up by taking the men's senior title at the

, succeeding the absent

to bring an end to a decade-long break for Kenya, whose last winner had been

Paul Tergat Paul Kibii Tergat (born 17 June 1969) is a Kenyan former professional long-distance runner. He became the first Kenyan man to set the world record in the marathon in 2003, with a time of 2:04:55, and is regarded as one of the most accomplished l ...

in 1999.Butler, Mark (28 March 2010)
Joseph Ebuya ends Kenyan draught – Men's Senior race report

. Retrieved on 30 March 2010. He competed on the

road running Road running is the sport of running on a measured course over an established road. This differs from track and field on a regular track and cross country running over natural terrain. These events are usually classified as long-distance ru ...

circuit later that year and set a United Kingdom all-comers record for the 10-mile distance with a win at the

Great South Run The Great South Run is an annual 10 mile (16.09 km) road running race which takes place in Portsmouth, United Kingdom providing an intermediate distance between the ten kilometre and the half marathon (21.097 km) runs. Launched in 199 ...

. His time of 45:16 was the fastest of the season and knocked over 40 seconds off the previous UK-soil record – a mark achieved at the same race fifteen years earlier by Benson Masya. He ran at the Cross de Atapuerca in November but was outdone by world silver medallist

Teklemariam Medhin Teklemariam Medhin Weldeslassie (born 24 June 1989) is an Eritrean long-distance runner who specializes in the 5000 metres and 10,000 metres. He represented his country at the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics. Running career Junior career Medhin wa ...

in the final straight and had to settle for second. He became the first athlete to win twice at the Soria meeting by out-kicking Mathew Kisorio a few weeks later, and also won the

Cross de l'Acier The Cross de l'Acier () was an annual cross country running competition held in late November in Leffrinckoucke, France. First held in 1990, it was one of the foremost competitions of its type in France. Ten races were held at the event for athlete ...

and Cross de la Constitución titles. He continued his strong form into 2011, winning in

Amorebieta Amorebieta-Etxano, also known as Zornotza ( Spanish, ''Amorebieta-Echano''), is a town and municipality located in Biscay in the Basque Country, an Autonomous Community in northern Spain. At the time of the 2019 census, the population of the mun ...

and at the

Campaccio The Campaccio is an annual cross country running competition which takes place in early January in San Giorgio su Legnano, Italy. Organised by the ''Unione Sportiva Sangiorgese'' (Sangiorgese Sports Association), the event attracts participation ...

. The Kenyan National Cross Country Championships in February proved to be the undoing of his cross season, as he failed to finish and missed opportunities to defend his world title and compete at the

African Cross Country Championships The African Cross Country Championships is a regional cross country running competition for athletes from Africa. History The competition had a one off edition in 1985 in Nairobi, Kenya, and the medallists were mostly from the host nation.

. Competing on the roads, he took third at the UAE Healthy Kidney 10K behind

and

Micah Kogo Micah Kemboi Kogo (born 3 June 1986 in Burnt Forest, Uasin Gishu District) is a Kenyan Long-distance track event, long-distance Running, runner, who specialises in the 10,000 metres. He is the former World record in athletics, world record holde ...

– both world record breakers in the event. An injury ruled him out for the rest of the track and road racing seasons and he made a return in November to win the Cross de l'Acier for a second time, beating the 2011 World Champion

Imane Merga Imane Merga Jida (ኢማነ መርጋ ጂዳ) (born 15 October 1988) is an Ethiopian professional long-distance runner who specializes in the 5000 and 10,000 metres. He won his first world title at the 2011 IAAF World Cross Country Championship ...

. He was beaten into second by Kidane Tadese at the Cross de la Constitución, but retained his title at the Cross Zornotza.Valiente, Emeterio (9 January 2012)
Ebuya dominates in Amorebieta XC
IAAF. Retrieved on 9 January 2012.

International competitions

Personal bests

– 7:34.66 min (2007) *

– 12:51.00 min (2007) *

– 28:53.46 min (2006)

References

External links

*
In-depth article
from IAAF {{DEFAULTSORT:Ebuya, Joseph 1987 births Living people People from Samburu County Sportspeople from Rift Valley Province Kenyan male long-distance runners World Athletics Championships athletes for Kenya World Athletics Cross Country Championships winners Kenyan male cross country runners Athletes (track and field) at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games competitors for Kenya 20th-century Kenyan sportsmen 21st-century Kenyan sportsmen