Vincent Kipruto

Vincent Kipruto

Kipruto en route to victory at the 2009 Paris Marathon
Medal record
Men's athletics
Representing  Kenya
World Championships
2011 Daegu Marathon

Vincent Kipruto Limo (born 13 September 1987) is a Kenyan long distance runner who specialises in the marathon. He made his debut in the event in 2008 and won the Paris Marathon a year later. He then placed top three at the Chicago Marathon and the Rotterdam Marathon (where he ran a personal best of 2:05:13 hours).

In his first international appearance he won the silver medal at the 2011 World Championships in Athletics. He won the 2013 Lake Biwa Marathon and Frankfurt Marathon.

Career

Born in the south of Kenya's Keiyo District, Kipruto was the eldest child in his family. His family had their own cattle and he often ran uphill to bring them water. He was inspired by the achievements of William Kiplagat, a marathon runner who lived locally, and Kipruto began representing his school in the 10,000 metres. He was academically focused as a child and even though he began to train with Colm O' Connell's group, he did not take up running full-time until he had finished his KCSE examinations. Impressed by his performances at the provincial championships, Kiplagat offered to become Kipruto's coach and mentor. Kipruto travelled to the Netherlands in 2007 to compete professionally for the first time and he won a series of road races.[1]

He made his debut over the marathon distance at the 2008 Reims Marathon, recording a time of 2:08:16 for third place. He began his 2009 season with a fourth-place finish at the Egmond Half Marathon in a time of 1:06:01.[2] He was part of a strong field of runners for the 2009 Paris Marathon and he surprised the race favourites by winning in a course record time of 2:05:47, breaking Michael Rotich's six-year-old record by over 45 seconds. This established him as the thirteenth fastest runner over the distance at the time.[3] After this he won the Giro Podistico Internazionale race in Castelbuono, Italy, dispatching Duncan Kibet among others.[4] He was invited to the Chicago Marathon and managed to finish third, recording 2:06:08 to place behind Abderrahim Goumri and Samuel Wanjiru (who set a new course record).[5]

He opened the 2010 season with a run at the Zayed International Half Marathon and although he set a half marathon best of 1:01:43, he finished out of contention in eleventh place.[6] Running at the Rotterdam Marathon, he again improved his marathon best with a time of 2:05:13 making him the tenth fastest runner over the distance at the time. However, this was only enough for third as rivals Patrick Makau and Geoffrey Mutai both ran under 2:05:00.[7] He returned to the Giro Podistico race in Sicily that year but could not defend his title and finished in third place as Zersenay Tadese went on to win.[8] An appearance at the 2010 Chicago Marathon resulted in a fifth-place finish in a time of 2:09:08, a mark below his best form.[9]

He opened 2011 with a second-place finish at the Discovery Kenya Half Marathon in Eldoret, coming behind Abraham Chebii.[10] He returned to Rotterdam in April and posted a fast time of 2:05:33, taking the runner-up spot behind Wilson Chebet.[11] He stepped down to the shorter distance for the World 10K Bangalore in June and came fifth. He was selected for the Kenyan marathon team at the 2011 World Championships in Athletics. In the race he edged past Feyisa Lilesa in the late stages to take the silver medal and form a Kenyan 1–2 with the defending champion Abel Kirui.[12] In November, he took on Haile Gebrselassie at the Zevenheuvelenloop race and finished second behind the Ethiopian.[13]

Kipruto competed sparingly in 2012, running a best of 60:46 minutes at the Roma-Ostia Half Marathon and entering two marathons: he was 13th at the 2012 London Marathon and managed only ninth at the Hangzhou International Marathon.[14] The following year he returned to action with a runner-up finish at the Egmond Half Marathon (behind Abera Kuma) and won the Lake Biwa Marathon in Japan.[15] He continued his winning streak by finishing first at the Lille Half Marathon in a personal best 60:39 minutes and edging Mark Kiptoo by one second to take the title at the Frankfurt Marathon.[16][17]

Achievements

Year Competition Venue Position Event Notes
Representing  Kenya
2008 Reims Marathon Reims, France 3rd Marathon 2:08:16
2009 Paris Marathon Paris, France 1st Marathon 2:05:47
Chicago Marathon Chicago, United States 3rd Marathon 2:06:08
2010 Rotterdam Marathon Rotterdam, Netherlands 3rd Marathon 2:05:13
2011 World Championships Daegu, South Korea 2nd Marathon 2:10:06
2013 Frankfurt Marathon Frankfurt, Germany 1st Marathon 2:06:15

Personal bests

Event Time (h:m:s) Venue Date
20 kilometres 58:50 Chicago, Illinois, United States 11 October 2009
Half marathon 1:00:39 Lille, France 1 September 2013
25 kilometres 1:13:40 Chicago, Illinois, United States 11 October 2009
Marathon 2:05:13 Rotterdam, Netherlands 11 April 2010

References

  1. ↑ Komen, Jonathan (18 September 2011). Kipruto Sets Sights On Olympics. Daily Nation (AllAfrica). Retrieved 21 November 2011.
  2. ↑ Vincent Kipruto. Chicago Marathon. Retrieved on 11 April 2010.
  3. ↑ Vazel, Pierre-Jean (5 April 2009). "2:05:47 course record for Kipruto in Paris, five others under 2:07". IAAF. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
  4. ↑ Zorzi, Alberto (26 July 2009). "Vincent Kipruto wins Castelbuono race". IAAF. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
  5. ↑ Ferstle, Jim (11 October 2009). "2:05:41 course record for Wanjiru while Shobukhova surprises in Chicago – UPDATED". IAAF. Archived from the original on 5 June 2011. Retrieved 11 April 2010.
  6. ↑ "Half Marathon 2010". IAAF. 4 August 2010. Archived from the original on 16 April 2010. Retrieved 11 April 2010.
  7. ↑ van Hemert, Wim (11 April 2010). "Makau storms 2:04:48 in Rotterdam". IAAF. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
  8. ↑ Zorzi, Alberto (27 July 2010). "Tadese cruises in Castelbueno". IAAF. Archived from the original on 28 July 2010. Retrieved 27 July 2010.
  9. ↑ "Wanjiru, Shobukhova repeat at Chicago Marathon". Times of Malta. AFP. 10 October 2010. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
  10. ↑ Macharia, David (31 January 2011). "Chebii impresses at Eldoret Half Marathon". IAAF. Archived from the original on 6 February 2011. Retrieved 31 January 2011.
  11. ↑ van Hemert, Wim (10 April 2011). "Chebet impresses with 2:05:27 victory in Rotterdam". IAAF. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
  12. ↑ Martin, David (4 September 2011). "Men's Marathon – Final – With runaway victory, Kirui becomes third man to defend title". IAAF. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
  13. ↑ van Hemert, Wim (20 November 2011). "Gebrselassie heads Ethiopian double in Nijmegen". IAAF. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
  14. ↑ Vincent Kipruto. Tilastopaja. Retrieved 4 March 2013.
  15. ↑ Nakamura, Ken (3 March 2013). "Kipruto out-sprints Jufar to win Lake Biwa Marathon". IAAF. Retrieved 4 March 2013.
  16. ↑ Wenig, Jörg (27 October 2013). "Kipruto and Kilel make it a Kenyan double at Frankfurt Marathon". IAAF. Retrieved 2 November 2013.
  17. ↑ „Ich will 2014 wieder in Frankfurt laufen“ (German). Runners World. Retrieved 2 November 2013.
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