ATHLETE KIPROTICH PERISHES IN CAR ACCIDENT
By David Monti
(c) 2011 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved. Used with permission.

(25-Apr) -- Kenyan distance runner Peter Kiprotich Cherus died as a result of injuries sustained in a car accident over the weekend.  Kiprotich was 32 and lived in Iten.  His death was confirmed by his manager, Gerard Van De Veen of Volare Sports in Voorthuizen, Netherlands.

According to Van De Veen, Kiprotich was driving home to Iten from Tambach and lost control of his car.  "He was brought by ambulance  to Iten, but passed away due to internal bleedings before he reached the hospital," Van De Veen reported in a statement sent to journalists today.

Kiprotich did most of his racing on the roads of Europe.  He twice won the Great Scottish Run Half-Marathon in 2003 and 2004, finished third twice at the Parelloop 10-K in Brunssum, Netherlands (2003/'04), and ran a marathon personal best of 2:08:49 in Frankfurt in 2007 where he finished fourth.  He recorded personal best times of 28:06 for 10-K and 61:45 for the half-marathon.

Interestingly, Kiprotich was one of the pacemakers for Haile Gebrselassie when the Ethiopian ran his 2:04:26 world record in Berlin in 2007, and for Paul Tergat when the Kenyan ran his world record there in 2003 (2:04:55).

Kiprotich is survived by his wife, Shillah, and three children: Brian, Eric and Marieke.  According to Van De Veen, the funeral will take place later this week.