Philemon Kimeli Limo (born 2 August 1985) is a Kenyan professional long-distance runner who competes in

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 ...

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 ...

competitions. He has a

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 ...

best of 59:30 minutes and a marathon best of 2:09:25 hours. He typically competes on the Italian road circuit and has won the Roma-Ostia and

Prague Half Marathon The Prague Half Marathon is an annual half marathon road running event which takes place in Spring on the city streets of Prague, Czech Republic, first held in 1999. It is managed by the same organisation that holds the Prague Marathon in May ...

s. Hailing from

Marakwet District Marakwet District is a defunct administrative district in the former Rift Valley Province of Kenya. Its capital town was Kapsowar. The district had a population of 140, 629 people in the 1999 Census. Local people are predominantly of the Marakwet ...

, Kenya, he began to make his mark domestically in 2009 as he was the runner-up at the high level

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 ...

Cross Country Championships. In his European debut in March 2010, he came third at the Stramilano Half Marathon, completing the distance in a time of 1:01:34 hours to finish behind

Moses Mosop Moses Cheruiyot Mosop (born 7 July 1985) is a Kenyan middle and long distance athlete. He competed for Kenya at the 2004 Olympic Games and went on to take 10,000 metres bronze at the 2005 World Championships in Athletics. He has also been succ ...

and Silas Kipruto. He was the

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 the 2010 European Cup 10000m and went on to record a

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 ...

personal best of 13:18.97 minutes at the Memorial Primo Nebiolo later that June. He won a 10 km race in

Rennes Rennes (; ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in Northwestern France at the confluence of the rivers Ille and Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the Brittany (administrative region), Brittany Regions of F ...

, recording a time which ranked him in the top ten for the distance that year. He defeated all comers in the Marseille-Cassis Classique in October that year. Representing

Kenya Police The Kenya Police Service is a national body in charge of law enforcement in Kenya. It is subordinate to the National Police Service which is headed by an Inspector General of Police who exercises independent command over the Service. Kenya Po ...

, he gained his first national selection in 2011 with a fourth-place finish at the Kenyan National Cross Country Championships. On his international debut at the

2011 IAAF World Cross Country Championships The 2011 IAAF World Cross Country Championships took place on March 20, 2011. The races were held at the Polideportivo Antonio Gil Hernández in Punta Umbría, Spain. Reports of the event were given for the IAAF. Preparation The Uni ...

in March, he took seventh place in the men's senior race – the fifth Kenyan to cross the line. He proved himself on the roads a month later at the

as he won the race with a sub-one hour timing, setting the fastest time ever on

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

soil with his finishing time of 59:30 minutes. A runner-up finish at the Giro Media Blenio came four weeks later. He won the men's title at the

World 10K Bangalore The World 10K Bengaluru (known as the TCS World 10K Bengaluru for sponsorship (commercial), sponsorship reasons by Tata Consultancy Services (TCS)) is an annual 10 kilometres road running competition which takes place in Bangalore, India. ...

in June, where he finished in 28:01 minutes, and set a course record and personal best of 27:34 min to win the Prague Metro 10K. He returned to the Marseille-Cassis race to defend his title, but was beaten into third place. He came fifth behind Sammy Kitwara at the

Delhi Half Marathon Delhi Half Marathon, currently branded as the Vedanta Delhi Half Marathon for sponsorship reasons, is an annual half marathon foot-race held in New Delhi, India. Established in 2005, it is both an elite runner and mass participation event. It is ...

in November and started his cross country season with a win at the Venta de Baños Cross a month after. He was within two seconds of his best at the

Roma-Ostia Half Marathon The Roma–Ostia Half Marathon ( ''or'' ) is an annual half marathon road running event which takes place in early March in Rome, Italy. The course begins in the EUR district of the city and follows a direct southeasterly route to the finish poin ...

and won by a twenty-second margin. returned to defend his title at the Prague Half Marathon in 2012, but finished third in a time of 60:03 minutes. Limo made his

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

Prague International Marathon The Prague Marathon (also known as Prague International Marathon) is an annual road running, road marathon held in the city of Prague in the Czech Republic each May. It was founded in 1995 and has grown to become a significant event, being a ...

in May and recorded a time of 2:09:25 hours for third, although he slowed significantly in the final stages. In 2013 he managed only tenth at the

, but won the Ústí nad Labem Half Marathon.Limo and Chepkoech win at the Udsti nad Labem Half Marathon
IAAF (2013-09-15). Retrieved on 2013-09-21.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Limo, Philemon 1985 births Living people Athletes from Elgeyo-Marakwet County Kenyan male long-distance runners Kenyan male marathon runners Kenyan male cross country runners 21st-century Kenyan sportsmen