Raymond Kipkoech (born 29 April 1978) is a Kenyan marathon runner who won the 2002 Berlin Marathon. He also won the 2004

Venice Marathon The Venice Marathon ( it, Maratona di Venezia) (stylized as Venicemarathon) is a marathon road race that has been held each year in Venice since 1986, usually in October. The course starts in Stra and passes through Mestre, , and Ponte della ...

, the 2005

Xiamen International Marathon The Xiamen International Marathon () is an annual marathon race held in January in the coastal city of Xiamen in Fujian province, People's Republic of China. It is one of the prominent marathon races of the year. More than 50,000 runners took p ...

, and the 2011

Jerusalem Marathon The Jerusalem Marathon () is an annual marathon running event held in Jerusalem during the month of March. The course begins at Israel's parliament (the Knesset), passes through Mount Scopus and the Old City, and finishes at Sacher Park. The c ...

Personal life

Kipkoech is from Kapsait, a Kenyan village at an elevation of around close to Uganda. He has two brothers and three sisters. He is the cousin of fellow Kenyan marathon runner

Eric Kimaiyo Erick Kimaiyo Kimase (born 8 July 1969) is a Kenyan former marathon runner who came second at the 1997 Berlin Marathon, and won the Honolulu and Baltimore Marathons on multiple occasions. Kimaiyo now works as a marathon coach, and trains curr ...

Career

Kipkoech started running professionally in 2000. His coach was Italian Gabriele Rosa, who also trained Kenyan marathon runners

Paul Tergat Paul Kibii Tergat (born 17 June 1969) is a Kenyan former professional long distance runner. He became the first Kenyan man to set the world record in the marathon in 2003, with a time of 2:04:55, and is regarded as one of the most accomplished l ...

and

Moses Tanui Moses Tanui (born 20 August 1965 in Sugoi Nandi District, Kenya) is a former Kenyan long-distance runner who won the gold medal over 10,000 metres at the 1991 World Championships in Athletics in Tokyo. Biography At the 1993 World Championships i ...

. Kipkoech's first marathon was the 2000

Turin Marathon The Turin Marathon ( it, Maratona di Torino Gran Premio La Stampa) is an annual marathon race which takes place in Turin, Italy in November. History The first edition of the modern race was held in 1987, although other marathon competitions have ...

, where he finished fifth. In 2002, Kipkoech won the

Enschede Marathon The Enschede Marathon is an annual marathon race held in the city of Enschede, Netherlands. The race is the distance of a typical marathon (42 km, 195 metres). It has been held annually since 1991, after being bi-annual for the previous 44 years. ...

, and came second at the

Los Angeles Marathon The Los Angeles Marathon (formerly known as the City of Los Angeles Marathon) is an annual running event typically held each spring in Los Angeles, California, since 1986. The marathon was inspired by the success of the 1984 Summer Olympic Ga ...

. He secured his place at the 2002 Berlin Marathon a week before the race, after running at altitude in Kenya. Kipkoech won the race in a final sprint with fellow Kenyans

Simon Biwott Simon Biwott (born 3 March 1970 in Eldoret, Uasin Gishu District) is a former long-distance runner from Kenya who won the silver medal in the men's marathon at the 2001 World Championships in Athletics. The race in Edmonton, Canada was won by Ethio ...

and Vincent Kipsos. The top five finishers in the race were all Kenyan, and Kipkoech was an unexpected winner of the race. Kipkoech's finishing time was 2:06:47, which beat his previous personal best by over 4 minutes. It was suggested that if the race's

pacemakers An artificial cardiac pacemaker (or artificial pacemaker, so as not to be confused with the natural cardiac pacemaker) or pacemaker is a Implant (medicine), medical device that generates electrical impulses delivered by electrodes to the Heart ...

had run faster, Kipkoech would have had a chance of beating the world record, which was 2:05:38 at the time. Kipkoech was invited to compete at the 2003 London Marathon due to his Berlin Marathon victory. 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. He finished fifth in the race. Later in the year, he came 13th at the 2003 New York City Marathon. In 2004, Kipkoech won the

, beating Italian

Danilo Goffi Danilo Goffi (born 3 December 1972, in Legnano) is a former Italian long-distance runner, who specializes in the marathon. He represented his country at the 1996 Summer Olympics and has also competed at the World Championships in Athletics. He wa ...

by a fraction of a second. In the same year, Kipkoech came second at the

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

and

Vienna City Marathon The Vienna City Marathon is an annual marathon race over the classic distance of 42.195 km held in Vienna, Austria since 1984. History The first edition was held on with a total of 794 competitors. It is Austria's largest road running even ...

s. In 2005, he won the

after breaking away from Ethiopian Tekeste Kebede into the race. His finishing time of 2:09:49 was the first time anyone had run faster than 2:10 at the Xiamen Marathon. In 2011, Kipkoech won the

, despite accidentally running to the half-marathon finish line rather than the marathon finish line.

Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot Robert "Mwafrika" Kipkoech Cheruiyot (born 26 September 1978 in Kapsabet, Kenya), sometimes known as Omar Ahmed, is a Kenyan marathon runner and is the former record holder and four-time winner of the Boston Marathon. Early career Cheruiy ...

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.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kipkoech, Raymond 1978 births Living people Kenyan male marathon runners Berlin Marathon male winners