Josphat Kiprono Menjo (born 20 August 1979) is a Kenyan

long-distance runner Long-distance running, or endurance running, is a form of continuous running over distances of at least . Physiologically, it is largely Aerobic exercise, aerobic in nature and requires stamina as well as mental strength. Within endurance ru ...

who specialises in track and

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 ...

. A relative latecomer to athletics, Menjo began competing around 2002 and first represented his country at the

2006 African Championships in Athletics The 15th African Championships in Athletics were held in Mauritius between August 9 and August 13, 2006. The event was staged at Stade Germain Comarmond in Bambous, Rivière Noire District. This was the second time when the African Championshi ...

, where he was fifth 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 ...

. A

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, ...

in the event at the

2007 All-Africa Games The 9th All-Africa Games (; ), also known as Algiers 2007 (), took place from 11 to 23 July 2007 in Algiers, the capital city of Algeria. Algiers became the first city to hold All-Africa Games for a second time. The 1978 All-Africa Games were a ...

was followed by an eighth-place finish on the global stage, running 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 ...

at 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 ...

. He won the

San Silvestre Vallecana The San Silvestre Vallecana is an annual 10 km road race held on 31 December in Madrid, Spain since 1964. It has two editions: a fun run for amateur athletes and an elite race for professional athletes. In 2012, the race achieved its hist ...

10K race at the end of the year. He returned to the continental stage with another fifth place at the

2008 African Championships in Athletics The 16th African Championships in Athletics was held in Addis Ababa, the capital city of Ethiopia, from April 30 to May 4, 2008. The competition venue was the Addis Ababa Stadium. It is the largest Athletics event held in Ethiopia to date. It was ...

and he continued his road success in Spain with consecutive wins at the

Cursa de Bombers The Cursa de Bombers () is an annual road running race over 10 km which takes place in April in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. History and course The race was created in 1999 as a joint venture between the ''Bombers de Barcelona'' (Firemen of B ...

in 2008 and 2009. Entering into his thirties, Menjo had a career breakthrough in 2010, recording many personal bests: he won the Cursa Bombers in 27:04 minutes to become the joint third fastest over the distance and ran 26:56.74 for the 10,000 m – the fastest by any athlete that year.

Biography

Early life and 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, Josphat Kiprono Menjo was educated at Kapkechui primary school and went on to attend Chemundu secondary school, graduating in 1998. He was keen to further his education and hoped to become a teacher. He worked on his father's maize farm for four years before being called for

military service Military service is service by an individual or group in an army or other militia, air forces, and naval forces, whether as a chosen job (volunteer military, volunteer) or as a result of an involuntary draft (conscription). Few nations, such ...

in 2002. At Moi Airbase, he worked with world-class

runners Running is a method of terrestrial locomotion by which humans and other animals move quickly on foot. Running is a gait with an aerial phase in which all feet are above the ground (though there are exceptions). This is in contrast to walkin ...

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 ...

and

Wilson Boit Kipketer Wilson Boit Kipketer (born 6 October 1973 in Kenya) is a middle and long distance athlete most widely known for running the 3000 m steeplechase. On 13 August 1997, at the Weltklasse Zürich, he set the world record in the steeplechase at 7:59 ...

and, despite his disinterest in sport as a child, the two convinced Menjo to try his hand at running. He began to compete in various cross country and track meets at military level. He won a

provincial race in 2004, gaining qualification into his first national championships. It was this race which sparked the Kenyan's interest: " realised I had potential in the distance and, from then on, I decided to specialise in it". He experimented with longer distances at the

Valladolid Half Marathon Valladolid ( ; ) is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality in Spain and the primary seat of government and ''de facto'' capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile and León. It is also the capital of the pr ...

and placed third at the 2004 race with a time of 1:04:09. He made the national team for the first time in 2006 with a third-place finish in the 5000 m at the Kenyan championships. Representing his country, he finished fifth in the 5000 m at the 2006 African Championships

All-Africa medal

His first major international medal came in the 5000 m at the

, where he took a

behind

Moses Kipsiro Moses Ndiema Kipsiro (born 2 September 1986 in Singare) is a Ugandan long-distance runner who specialises in the 5000 metres. He was the bronze medallist in the event at the 2007 World Championships in Athletics. He represented Uganda at the 2 ...

. Kipsiro had a late surge to pip Menjo to the gold by a margin of .13 seconds. He ran in the

at the 2007 World Championships and finished in eighth place. Menjo won the

road race on 31 December 2007. At the

he finished fifth in the 5000 m. He was the winner of the 2008

Cross de San Sebastián The Cross Internacional de San Sebastián, also known as the ''Cross Internacional de Donostia'', is an annual cross country running event which is staged in late January in San Sebastián, Spain. The competition was first held in 1956 as a men's ...

and took consecutive victories at the

Almond Blossom Cross Country The Almond Blossom Cross Country () is an annual international cross country running competition which takes place in Albufeira, in the Algarve region of Portugal, in early March. It is one of the IAAF permit meetings which serve as qualifying eve ...

race in 2008 and 2009. He also won twice in a row at the

10K race with wins in 2008 and 2009.

Breakthrough year

The 2010 season marked a significant improvement in Menjo's performances, as he set a number of career bests in events ranging from

1500 metres The 1500 metres or 1500-metre run is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athletics since 1983. It is equivalent to 1.5 kilomet ...

to the

half marathon A half marathon is a road running event of —half the distance of a marathon. It is common for a half marathon event to be held concurrently with a marathon or a 5K race, using almost the same course with a late start, an early finish, or shortcu ...

. He began by winning his third Cursa de Bombers race in

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

clocking 27:04, just three seconds slower than the world record held by compatriot

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 ...

. This course record mark elevated him to joint third in the all-time rankings over the distance. He ran a 5000 m personal best in Spain later in the outdoor season, winning at the

Gran Premio de Andalucía Gran may refer to: People *Grandmother, affectionately known as "gran" * Gran (name) Places * Gran, the historical German name for Esztergom, a city and the primatial metropolitan see of Hungary * Gran, Norway, a municipality in Innlandet coun ...

in a time of 13:02.54. He further improved this to 13:00.67 at the

KBC Night of Athletics The KBC Night of Athletics () is an annual athletics event at the Stadium De Veen in Heusden-Zolder, Belgium. It is officially presented and sponsored by the KBC Bank KBC Group N.V. is a Belgian universal multi-channel bank-insurer, focusing ...

and went on to win at the Lapinlahti leg of the

Finnish Elite Games Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

series of meetings in July. Continuing his rapid improvement, Menjo again lowered his 5000 m personal best to 12:55.95 in

Turku, Finland Turku ( ; ; , ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Southwest Finland. It is located on the southwestern coast of the country at the mouth of the Aura River (Finland), River Aura. The population of Turku is approximately , while t ...

. He ran a 3:53.62 mile in

Joensuu Joensuu (; ; ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of North Karelia. It is located in the eastern interior of the country and in the Finnish Lakeland. The population of Joensuu is approximately , while the sub-region has a population ...

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

to set a personal best on 22 August 2010. He continued his success in Finland with a win in the Tilastopaja Cup at the

Paavo Nurmi Stadium Paavo Nurmi Stadium (, ) is a multi-use stadium in Turku, Finland. It is currently used mostly for football matches and athletics meets. It holds 13,000 people and is named after the Turku-born runner Paavo Nurmi. Twenty athletics world records ha ...

, recording a personal best and world-leading time of 26:56.74. With a highly successful track season behind him, he entered the

Portugal Half Marathon Luso Portugal Half Marathon or Hyundai Meia Maratona de Portugal is an annual half marathon contested every October in Lisbon, Portugal. A new, faster course was established for the race in 2010 and 25 km record holder Mary Keitany duly resp ...

in Lisbon and set a personal best of 1:01:42 to take second place behind road specialist

Tadese Tola Tadese Tola (born 31 October 1987 in Addis Ababa) is an Ethiopian long-distance runner. He has represented Ethiopia at World championship level in cross country, road running, and on the track. He made his first impact in 2006, helping the Ethi ...

. He signed up for the Belgrade Race Through History in October and broke the meet record, beating

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 ...

to win on the difficult 6 km course. He was second to

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 ...

at the Cross Valle de Llodio. He was invited to the Zatopek 10,000 metres and won the race with the fastest time since

Luke Kipkosgei Luke Kipkosgei (born 27 November 1975 in Iten) is a Kenyan long-distance runner who is most known for his track running over 3000 metres and 5000 metres. His first major medals came in 1998: he took the 5000 metres gold medal at the 1998 Goodwi ...

's race record run in 1998. He took his first win on grass in 2011 at the

Cross Internacional de San Sebastián A cross is a religious symbol consisting of two intersecting lines, usually perpendicular to each other. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally. A cross of oblique lines, in the shape of the Latin letter X, is termed a saltire in ...

in January, then went on to take a comfortable victory at the

in March. He did not make the Kenyan teams for the World Championship events that year, but had a season highlight for Kenya at the

2011 Military World Games The 2011 Military World Games (), officially known as the 5th CISM Military World Games (), was hosted from July 15–24, 2011 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The 5th Military World Games was the largest military sports event ever held in Brazil, wit ...

, where he claimed the 10,000 m title. He returned to the San Sebastián Cross in 2012, but was third on that occasion.

Personal life

He is married to

Eunice Jepkorir Eunice Jepkorir Kertich (born 17 February 1982) is a Kenyan long-distance runner who specialises in the steeplechase (athletics), steeplechase. She was the 2008 Summer Olympics, 2008 Olympic silver medalist in the event and bronze medalist at t ...

, a

steeplechase SteepleChase Records is a jazz record company and label based in Copenhagen, Denmark. SteepleChase was founded in 1972 by Nils Winther, who was a student at Copenhagen University at the time. He began recording concerts at Jazzhus Montmartre, ...

runner and Olympic silver medalist. He is related to the similarly named runner

Josephat Kiprono Josephat Kiprono (born 12 December 1973) is a Kenyan distance and marathon runner. He participated at the IAAF World Half Marathon Championships in 1996 and won a silver medal finishing behind Italian Stefano Baldini. Kiprono won three marathons ...

, who has won marathons in Berlin, Rome and Rotterdam.

Personal bests

*All information taken from IAAF profile.

Competition record

Circuit wins

* 2007

* 2008

* 2008–09

* 2008–2010

(course record) * 2010 Belgrade Race Through History (course record) * 2017 San Silvestre Crevillentina

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Menjo, Kiprono 1979 births Living people Athletes from Nandi County Kenyan male long-distance runners African Games silver medalists for Kenya African Games silver medalists in athletics (track and field) World Athletics Championships athletes for Kenya Athletes (track and field) at the 2007 All-Africa Games Australian Athletics Championships winners 21st-century Kenyan sportsmen