Raymond Kipkoech

Raymond Kipkoech (born 29 April 1978)[1] is a Kenyan marathon runner who won the 2002 Berlin Marathon. He also won the 2004 Venice Marathon, the 2005 Xiamen International Marathon, and the 2011 Jerusalem Marathon.

Raymond Kipkoech
Raymond Kipkoech at the 2004 Vienna Marathon awards ceremony
Personal information
Full nameRaymond Kipkoech Chimwelo[1]
Born (1978-04-29) 29 April 1978
Kenya
Sport
SportAthletics
Medal record
Marathon
World Marathon Majors
Representing  Kenya
2002 BerlinMarathon

Personal life

Kipkoech is from Kapsait, a Kenyan village at an elevation of around 3,000 metres (9,800 ft) close to Uganda.[2] He has two brothers and three sisters.[3] He is the cousin of fellow Kenyan marathon runner Eric Kimaiyo.[4]

Career

Kipkoech started running professionally in 2000.[2] His coach was Italian Gabriele Rosa, who also trained Kenyan marathon runners Paul Tergat and Moses Tanui.[3] Kipkoech's first marathon was the 2000 Turin Marathon, where he finished fifth.[5] In 2002, Kipkoech won the Enschede Marathon,[6] and came second at the Los Angeles Marathon.[7] He secured his place at the 2002 Berlin Marathon a week before the race,[3][2] after running 35 kilometres (22 mi) at altitude in Kenya.[8] Kipkoech won the race in a final sprint with fellow Kenyans Simon Biwott and Vincent Kipsos.[9][10] The top five finishers in the race were all Kenyan,[2] and Kipkoech was an unexpected winner of the race.[9][8] Kipkoech's finishing time was 2:06:47,[11] which beat his previous personal best by over 4 minutes.[2] It was suggested that if the race's pacemakers had run faster, Kipkoech would have had a chance of beating the world record, which was 2:05:38 at the time.[8]

Kipkoech was invited to compete at the 2003 London Marathon due to his Berlin Marathon victory.[12] He had to withdraw from the event due to an injury. He competed at the 2003 Berlin Marathon, his first marathon since winning the race in 2002.[9] He finished fifth in the race.[13] Later in the year, he came 13th at the 2003 New York City Marathon.[14] In 2004, Kipkoech won the Venice Marathon,[11][15] beating Italian Danilo Goffi by a fraction of a second.[16] In the same year, Kipkoech came second at the Paris and Vienna City Marathons.[11][15] In 2005, he won the Xiamen International Marathon after breaking away from Ethiopian Tekeste Kebede 37 kilometres (23 mi) into the race.[6][11] His finishing time of 2:09:49 was the first time anyone had run faster than 2:10 at the Xiamen Marathon.[11]

In 2011, Kipkoech won the Jerusalem Marathon,[17] despite accidentally running to the half-marathon finish line rather than the marathon finish line.[18] Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot was first to cross the correct finish line, but Raymond Kipkoech was awarded the race ahead of Mutai Kopkorir and Kiman Njorage, who both also went to the incorrect finish line. Cheruiyot came fourth in the race.[18]

References
  1. "Raymond Kipkoech Chemwelo". Association of Road Racing Statisticians. Retrieved 9 June 2020.
  2. "Takahashi defends Berlin title". BBC Sport. 29 September 2002. Archived from the original on 5 December 2006. Retrieved 9 June 2020.
  3. "Der Sieger, der aus dem Nebel kam". Berliner Morgenpost (in German). 30 September 2002. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007.
  4. "NAOKO TAKAHASHI - RAYMOND KIPKOECH". Berlin Marathon. 29 September 2002. Retrieved 21 November 2020.
  5. "BM 02: Olympic champion Naoko Takahashi of Japan racked up another major marathon win this morning". Berlin Marathon. 29 September 2002. Retrieved 21 November 2020.
  6. Wirz, Jürg (2006). Run to Win: The Training Secrets of the Kenyan Runners. Meyer & Meyer. p. 112. ISBN 9781841261881. Archived from the original on 9 June 2020. Retrieved 9 June 2020.
  7. "New Back-to-Back in L.A." Los Angeles Times. 4 March 2002. Archived from the original on 9 June 2020. Retrieved 9 June 2020.
  8. "Spät gemeldet, früh angekommen". Der Tagesspiegel (in German). 30 September 2002. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
  9. "Last years winner, Raymond Kipkoech, returns". Berlin Marathon. 18 September 2003. Archived from the original on 9 June 2020. Retrieved 9 June 2020.
  10. "Raymond Kipkoech". Association of Road Racing Statisticians. Archived from the original on 20 June 2019. Retrieved 9 June 2020.
  11. "Raymond Kipkoech and Zhou Chunxiu take wins in Xiamen Marathon". World Athletics. 27 March 2005. Archived from the original on 9 June 2020. Retrieved 9 June 2020.
  12. "Athletics: Hansen set to renew rivalry". The Independent. 10 January 2003. Archived from the original on 9 June 2020. Retrieved 9 June 2020.
  13. "2003 Berlin Marathon". Association of Road Racing Statisticians. Archived from the original on 24 May 2019. Retrieved 9 June 2020.
  14. "NYC Marathon results". Associated Press. 2 November 2003. Retrieved 9 June 2020 – via ESPN.
  15. "Kenyans dominate Venice marathon". Angola Press News Agency. 26 October 2004. Archived from the original on 9 June 2020. Retrieved 9 June 2020.
  16. "Kenyans Take Top Honours in Venice Marathon Contest". AllAfrica. 26 October 2004. Retrieved 9 June 2020.
  17. "Kenyan slogs out Jerusalem marathon win through soggy weather". Associated Press. 16 March 2012. Archived from the original on 8 May 2020. Retrieved 9 June 2020 – via The Times of Israel.
  18. "Quite the race to the finish line(s)". The Jerusalem Post. 25 March 2011. Archived from the original on 10 June 2020. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
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