Samuel Chelanga (born February 23, 1985, in

Baringo County Baringo County is one of the 47 counties in Kenya. It is located in the former Rift Valley Province. Its headquarters and largest town is Kabarnet. The county is home to Lake Baringo. Geographical location Baringo bounded by Turkana County an ...

, Kenya) is a

Kenyan ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

-born American

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

athlete who competed for

Liberty University Liberty University (LU) is a Private university, private Baptist university in Lynchburg, Virginia. It is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Conservatives of Virginia (Southern Baptist Convention). Founded in 1971 by Jerry Falwell Sr. and Elmer ...

Lynchburg, Virginia Lynchburg is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. First settled in 1757 by ferry owner John Lynch, the city's population was 79,009 at the 2020 census. Located in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mount ...

from 2008 to 2011. He holds the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges and ...

record for the

10,000 meters 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 ...

run with a time of 27:08.49 set at the Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational at

Palo Alto, California Palo Alto (; Spanish for "tall stick") is a charter city in the northwestern corner of Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. The city was ...

on May 1, 2010. His brother, Joshua Chelanga, is a professional

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , 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 are also wheelchair di ...

runner.

Early life

Sam Chelanga was born in Kabarsel village,

, Kenya, and was the 10th of 11 children.

Running career

Collegiate

Originally hailing from

, Kenya, Chelanga moved to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

on a sports

scholarship A scholarship is a form of financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, diversity and inclusion, athletic skill, and financial need. Scholarsh ...

. He attended

, with whom he won the 2009 NCAA Men's Cross Country Championship in Terre Haute, Indiana and set a course record in 28:41.3."Chelanga Outruns Doubts to Win NCAA Title"
RunningTimes.com. 2009-11-22. Retrieved 2010-11-16. He won a third consecutive title at the

Big South Conference The Big South Conference is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I. Originally a non- football conference, the Big South began sponsoring football in 2002 as part of the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). ...

cross country championships in October, leading the race by a margin of over half a minute. In 2010, he defended his title by winning the NCAA cross country championship, becoming only the 11th man in NCAA history to win at least two such titles. He ended his time at Liberty University with fourteen All-American distance honours.

Professional

Chelanga signed a contract with Nike and made his professional race debut at the

B.A.A. 10K The B.A.A. 10K is an annual road running event for men and women over that takes place in June in Boston in the United States. A total of 3040 people finished the race at the inaugural edition. The B.A.A. 10K is one of two major annual races tha ...

in Boston in June 2011 under Jerry Schumacher and managed to take fourth place. In November 2013, he won the 77th

Manchester Road Race The Manchester Road Race is a 4.748 mile (7.641 km) footrace held annually on Thanksgiving Day in Manchester, Connecticut. Race proceeds are donated each year to Muscular Dystrophy research and about 18 other local charities. Beginning promp ...

(4.748 miles), an annual race held on

Thanksgiving Day Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in the United States, Canada, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Philippines. It is also observed in the Netherlander town of Leiden ...

Manchester, Connecticut Manchester is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. As of the 2020 census, the town had a total population of 59,713. The urban center of the town is the Manchester census-designated place, with a population of 36,379 at the 20 ...

, in a time of 21 minutes, 31 seconds. Sam ran a 13:04.35 at Boston University's BU Multi-Team Meet, coming in second. He came in second behind his old college rival

Galen Rupp Galen Rupp (born May 8, 1986) is an Americans, American Long-distance track event, long-distance runner. He competed in the Summer Olympics in 2008 Summer Olympics, 2008 in Beijing, 2012 Summer Olympics, 2012 in London, 2016 Summer Olympics, 201 ...

who won in 13:01.26 – a new American indoor 5k record. From 2013 - January 2015, Sam trained with

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native ...

alumnus Ben True in

Hanover, New Hampshire Hanover is a town located along the Connecticut River in Grafton County, New Hampshire, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population was 11,870. The town is home to the Ivy League university Dartmouth College, the U.S. Army Corps of ...

. In January 2015, Sam joined coach James Li in Tucson, Arizona. At the 2016 US Olympic Trials, Chelanga finished the 10,000 meters in sixth place, a minute behind winner

. But he was the third fastest in the race to hold a sub-28:00.00 qualifying time.

2014 Annual Bests

Seasonal best

2015

Carlsbad 5000 Results:
1. @LawiLalang1 13:32
2. Wilson Too 13:35
3. @Lagat1500 13:40
4. @SamChelanga 13:50 Wharf to Wharf Santa Cruz to Capitola 6 mile results:
1. Sam Chelanga 27:24.48
2. Shadrack Kosgei 27:27
3. John Muritu Watiku 27:28 43rd New Balance

Falmouth Road Race The Falmouth Road Race is an annual road race on Cape Cod from Woods Hole, a village in the town of Falmouth, Massachusetts, to Falmouth Heights. The race organizer is Falmouth Road Race, Inc., a 501(c)(3) organization that puts on the race e ...

August 16
Sam finished 4th place 32:21 only 4 seconds behind the winner Stephen Sambu. USA 5 km Championships CVS/pharmacy Downtown 5k

Providence, Rhode Island Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts Bay ...

September 20,
1.

David Torrence David Torrence may refer to: *David Torrence (actor) (1864–1951), Scottish-American film character actor * David Torrence (athlete) (1985–2017), Peruvian-American Olympic runner See also *David Torrance (disambiguation) David Torrance may ref ...

13:56.0
2. Dan Huling 13:59.0
3.

Dathan Ritzenhein Dathan James Ritzenhein (born December 30, 1982) is a retired American long-distance runner, and current head coach of On Athletics Club. He held the American record in the 5,000 metres (12:56.27) from 2009-2010, when it was broken by Bernard ...

14:03.0
4. Sam Chelanga 14:07.0

USA 10 mile championship on October 4
1. Sam Chelanga 46:47
2. Tyler Pennel
3.

2016

Sam placed third in 2016 New York Half Marathon in 1:01:43 on 20.03.2016. Sam placed first in Credit Union

Cherry Blossom Ten Mile Run The Cherry Blossom Ten Mile Run is an annual 10-mile (16 km) road race in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1973 originally as a precursor training run for elite runners planning to compete in the Boston Marathon, the race has evolved over the y ...

in Washington DC. Sam ran 10 Miles Road in 48:26 on 03.04.2016. The first 🇺🇸a male win at @CUCB since Greg Meyer in 1983! Sam Chelanga placed fifth in 2016 Payton Jordan Invitational 10,000m in 27:54.57 at Stanford University on 01.05.2016. Chelanga qualified for the 2016 US Olympic Trials (track and field) at 2016 Hoka One One Mid Distance Classic May 20 hosted by

Occidental College Occidental College (informally Oxy) is a private liberal arts college in Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1887 as a coeducational college by clergy and members of the Presbyterian Church, it became non-sectarian in 1910. It is one of the oldes ...

by running

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 ...

in 13:27.53. Chelanga placed sixth in the 10,000 m in 28:56.12 and 22nd in 5000 meters in 13:59.52 at 2016 United States Olympic Trials (track and field). Chelanga placed second in 59:16 at USATF 20 km Championships at Faxon Law New Haven Road Race.

2017

Chelanga took home fourth place in 30:22.2 at 10 km at 2017 USATF cross country championships on February 4, 2017. Chelanga placed first at NACAC 10 km road race on February 26, 2017. Chelange placed first at World best 10 km Road in February in

San Juan, Puerto Rico San Juan (, , ; Spanish for "Saint John") is the capital city and most populous municipality in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2020 census, it is the 57th-largest city under the ju ...

in a time of 28:19. Chelanga placed third in 15 km Road in March in

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...

in a time of 43:28. In May Chelanga served as a pacer for Nike's

Breaking2 Breaking2 was a project by Nike to break the two-hour barrier for the marathon. Nike announced the project in November 2016 and organized a team of three elite runners who trained for a private race. The event was held on the Formula One race tr ...

attempt at achieving a sub-2-hour marathon time. Chelanga placed ninth in 10,000m at

2017 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships The 2017 USA Track and Field Outdoor Championships were held at Hornet Stadium on the campus of California State University, Sacramento in Sacramento, California. Organized by USA Track & Field, the four-day competition took place June 22–2 ...

in June in

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

in a time of 29:08.29. Chelanga placed third in 10 km road in July at Atlanta Journal-Constitution Peachtree Road Race in a time of 28:25 and first at Quad-City Times Bix 7 in a time of 32:53. Chelanga placed third in September at Faxon Law New Haven Road Race 20 km in a time of 59:16. Chelanga placed 15th in October at

2017 Chicago Marathon The 2017 Chicago Marathon was the 40th annual edition of the Chicago Marathon held in Chicago, Illinois, United States, and was held on October 8. The race had 44,508 finishers, and the number of spectators was estimated at over 1.5 million.

in a time of 2:15:02.

2018

Chelanga placed seventh at 2018 Aramco Half Marathon in 1:00:37. Chelanga ran the sixth fastest American time all-time for the half marathon behind Ryan Hall (59:43 14 Jan 2007 in Houston Texas), Leonard Korir (59:52 19 Nov 2017 in New Delhi India),

(60:00 1 Oct 2009 in Birmingham England), Abdihakem Abdirahman (60:29 05 Aug 2007 in New York NY), and

(60:29 20 Mar 2011 in New York NY).

Personal bests

*''Updated May 17, 2014.''IAAF Samuel Chelanga biography
Retrieved on 2011-06-27.

References

External links

Sam Chelanga Track and Field Profile
at Liberty Flames * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chelanga, Sam Living people 1985 births Sportspeople from Nairobi American male long-distance runners Liberty University alumni Liberty Flames and Lady Flames athletes American male marathon runners Kenyan male long-distance runners American people of Kenyan descent American sportspeople of African descent Sportspeople of Kenyan descent American sportsmen