Mark Kosgey Kiptoo (born 21 June 1976) 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 set the world record in the marathon for the Masters age group (40 and over) by running 2:07:50 in the 2018

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 ...

. He also specialized 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 ...

throughout his career. He is a two-time

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...

ist in the event at the

Military World Games The Military World Games is a multi-sport event for military sportspeople, organized by the International Military Sports Council (CISM). They have been held since 1995, although championships for separate sports had been held for some years. A ...

and won bronze medals over the distance at the

2010 Commonwealth Games The 2010 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XIX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Delhi 2010, were an international multi-sport event for the members of the Commonwealth that was held in Delhi, India, from 3 to 14 October 201 ...

and the

2010 African Championships in Athletics The 2010 African Championships in Athletics was held in Nairobi, Kenya from, 28 July to 1 August 2010. Background The African Championships in Athletics were held in Kenya for the first time. Previously two major athletics events have been held ...

. He has also represented Kenya at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships and the

All-Africa Games The African Games, formally known as the All-Africa Games or the Pan African Games, are a continental multi-sport event held every four years, organized by the African Union with the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa and the ...

. His personal best times are 7:32.97 minutes in the

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 ...

, achieved in May 2009 in

Doha Doha ( ) is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor (city), Al Khor and Lusail, it is home to most of the country's population. It ...

; 12:53.46 minutes in the

, achieved in August 2010; and 27:14.67 minutes 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 ...

, achieved in June 2008 in

Eugene Eugene may refer to: People and fictional characters * Eugene (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Gene Eugene, stage name of Canadian born actor, record producer, engineer, composer and musi ...

Career

Born in Lumino Village in Kenya's Lugari District, Kiptoo attended Lumino Primary School then Mukumu Boys High School. Following his graduation in 1996, he joined the Kenyan Armed Forces. He trained at an air-force technical college for four years and was later posted at Laikipia Air Base in 2002. It was during his time at the base that he was encouraged to take part in athletics, representing his technical squad. During 2005 and 2006 he was sent as part of the Kenyan peace-keeping contingent of the United Nations Operation in Burundi in the final period of the Burundi Civil War.Wokabi, James & Mutuota, Mutwiri (16 March 2009)
Focus on Athletes – Mark Kiptoo

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 22 January 2012. Kiptoo returned to Kenya in May 2006 and at the age of thirty set about preparing himself for the Kenyan 2006/2007

cross country running Cross country running is a sport in which teams and individuals run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain such as dirt or grass. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and soil, earth, pass through woodlands and ope ...

season. He reached the top ten in two of the Athletics Kenya Cross Country Series meets in November then earned a place at the Kenya National Cross Country Championships after coming tenth at the Armed Forces Championships. He managed third place at the national championships but failed to make the team for the 2007 IAAF World Cross Country Championships after placing 12th at the trial event. He tried his hand at

track running Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

instead and ran a personal best of 13:12.60 minutes for the

in Belgrade. He won the Army title over that distance and was then runner-up at the National Championships behind Thomas Longosiwa. This earned him his first international call-up for Kenya, although he managed only ninth place 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 ...

Algiers Algiers is the capital city of Algeria as well as the capital of the Algiers Province; it extends over many Communes of Algeria, communes without having its own separate governing body. With 2,988,145 residents in 2008Census 14 April 2008: Offi ...

. Success followed later that year at the

2007 Military World Games The 2007 Military World Games, officially the 4th CISM Military World Games were held at the twin-cities Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, Hyderabad - Secunderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India from 14–21 October 2007. Some parts of the games were also hel ...

, where he won the 5000 m and took second place behind compatriot

John Cheruiyot Korir John Cheruiyot Korir (born 13 December 1981) is a Kenyan athlete who specializes in long-distance running. He is known to be an athlete who often shines at trials but fails to win big competitions. Career He was born in Kiramwok, Bomet Distric ...

over

. He was runner-up at the National Cross Country Trials the following year and competed for Kenya in that discipline for the first time, finishing 18th overall. At the 2008 World Athletics Final he finished sixth in the 3000 metres and fourth in the 5000 metres. At the 2009 World Athletics Final he finished eighth in the 3000 metres and fifth in the 5000 metres. He finished fourteenth at the 2008 World Cross Country Championships and seventh at the 2009 World Cross Country Championships. At the

2009 IAAF World Athletics Final The 7th IAAF World Athletics Final was held at the Kaftanzoglio Stadium in Thessaloniki, Greece on September 12 and September 13, 2009. The competition represented the culmination of the 2009 IAAF World Athletics Tour, a selection of athletics m ...

he finished eighth in the

. He also took part in

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 ...

competitions and finished as the runner-up at the 2009 World 10K Bangalore behind

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 ...

. At the

he formed part of a Kenyan podium sweep of the 5000 m taking bronze behind Edwin Soi and Vincent Yator. He ran a new personal best at the

DN Galan BAUHAUS-galan, formerly known as DN-Galan is an annual, international athletics meeting that takes place at the Olympic Stadium in Stockholm. Previously it was one of the five IAAF Super Grand Prix events until 2010, and has since been part of th ...

Diamond League The Diamond League is an annual series of elite track and field athletic competitions comprising fifteen invitational athletics meetings. The series sits in the top tier of the World Athletics one-day meet competitions. The inaugural season was ...

meeting, running 12:53.46 to secure a major circuit win over 5000 m. In light of these achievements, he earned selection for Kenya at the

and he took the 5000 m bronze medal behind Moses Kipsiro and

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 ...

. He opened his 2011 season with a podium finish at the Parelloop 10K in the Netherlands in April. 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 ...

in Rio de Janeiro he retained his 5000 m title and set a games record time of 13:06.17 minutes. He did not perform so well in the

2011 All-Africa Games The 10th All-Africa Games (), also known as Maputo 2010, took place between September 3–18, 2011 in Maputo, Mozambique. Maputo's hosting marked the third time the Games was held in the southern part of the continent. Host awarding In April 20 ...

, as he finished 13th overall. He began his 2012 season with a win at the Armed Forces Cross Country. He failed in his bid to reach the Olympics, but was selected for the

2012 African Championships in Athletics The 2012 African Championships in Athletics was held at the Stade Charles de Gaulle in Porto Novo, Benin from 27 June to 1 July 2012. It was the first time that Benin had hosted the event. Medal summary Men Women Medal table Participatin ...

where he won the 5000 m gold and the 10,000 m silver medals. Mark Kiptoo won the 2nd Darıca Half Marathon,

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

in a time 1:03:31 in 2012. His 2013 started with a win at the Cross Zornotza. He failed to make the team for the

2013 World Championships in Athletics The 14th IAAF World Championships in Athletics (Moscow 2013; ) was an international athletics (sport), athletics competition held in Moscow, Russia, from 10 to 18 August 2013. Initially, Russia at the 2013 World Championships in Athletics, Russia ...

and, after winning the Azkoitia-Azpeitia Half Marathon, he instead focused on making a

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 ...

debut. At the

in October he presented a strong challenge to Vincent Kipruto and finished as runner-up one second behind his countryman, having a fast first attempt with 2:06:16 hours.

References

External links

Profile
from PACE Sports Management {{DEFAULTSORT:Kiptoo, Mark 1976 births Living people People from Western Province (Kenya) Kenyan male long-distance runners Kenyan male marathon runners Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for Kenya Commonwealth Games athletes for Kenya Athletes (track and field) at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Frankfurt Marathon male winners Kenyan male cross country runners Medallists at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Military World Games gold medalists for Kenya Military World Games medalists in athletics (track and field) Military World Games silver medalists for Kenya 21st-century Kenyan sportsmen Commonwealth Games bronze medallists in athletics