Kelvin Kiptum

Kelvin Kiptum Cheruiyot (born 2 December 1999) is a Kenyan long-distance runner and the marathon world record holder. Kiptum is the only person in history to run the marathon in under two hours and one minute in a record-eligible race. Between December 2022 and October 2023, Kiptum ran three of the top six fastest marathons in history in less than a year. In doing so, he also set new Course Records in all three races he competed in. He ran the fastest-ever marathon debut at the 2022 Valencia Marathon, becoming only the third man in history to break two hours and two minutes and setting the then fourth-quickest time ever. Kiptum followed it up four months later with the then second fastest marathon in history at 2:01:25, 16 seconds outside the world record, in a debut at a World Marathon Major at the 2023 London Marathon. In his next race, the Chicago Marathon six months later in October 2023, he broke the world record by 34 seconds with a time of 2:00:35. Approaching the two-hour barrier, Kiptum was only two seconds short of becoming the first man to run the distance at an average speed greater than 21 km/h. Early and personal life Kelvin Kiptum grew up in Chepsamo village, Chepkorio – the high-altitude area (~2550 m) in picturesque Elgeyo-Marakwet County in the Kenyan Rift Valley. Together with nearby counties the region is known as the birthplace of many renowned Kenyan runners and also as a mecca for foreign runners. As a youngster, he herded his family's cattle and began following barefoot other runners along the forest trails. Kiptum started training around 2013, when he was 13 years old. He is married to Asenath Rotich and they have two children.