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10 Facts of World Marathon Record Holder Wilson Kipsang

Published by
RunnerSpace.com/RoadRacing   Apr 8th 2014, 2:29pm
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Iten's King Kipsang in Ten

Published by SPIKES/IAAF on April 8, 2014

His rival Mo Farah may be an established international brand, but comparatively little is known about the world's fastest marathon man Wilson Kipsang. Fear not, SPIKES is here to fill you in, with ten facts about the running hero of Iten, Kenya.

1. Late bloomer  

“Even at school, with little training, I found I could compete very well. I used to finish in 5000m and 10,000m races at school in the top three. Back then I was not mentally focused to be an athlete,” he tells SPIKES.

Kipsang took up running seriously aged 20, and didn't run a marathon until he was 28: when he clocked 2:07:13 in Paris in 2010. “I was really curious to see how I could do in the marathon. My performance gave me enough confidence that I could improve.”

Six months later, he ran 2:04:57 in Frankfurt. Only 25 men have ever gone sub-2:05 for the marathon (compared to 90 sprinters who have broken the 10-second barrier for the 100m).

2. Sound of the police

Prior to taking up running full time, Wilson Kipsang worked as a policeman. He served for three years before his running career took off. You'd imagine he was pretty good at it, especially chasing robbers on foot.

3. Generous guy 

Kipsang's known to regularly pay for tea and lunch for his 40-strong training group. "It is a way of getting togetherness in the group. They are assisting me, but I am also assisting them," he says. "They don’t have much. I might buy them a light lunch of rice, beef, bananas and water.”

4. Inspired by Tergat

Keyna's former marathon world record holder and five-time world cross country champion Paul Tergat was a hero to the young Kipsang.

“He inspired me very much, because he was someone well known to me."



Read the full article at: spikes.iaaf.org

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