Berlin marathon 2011 Stephen Kwelio Chemlany innsbrucker

Stephen Kwelio Chemlany (born 9 August 1982) is a Kenyan

long-distance runner Long-distance running, or endurance running, is a form of continuous running over distances of at least . Physiologically, it is largely Aerobic exercise, aerobic in nature and requires endurance, stamina as well as mental strength. Within e ...

who competes in the

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair div ...

. He has a personal best of 2:06:24 hours for the event. Chemlany was runner-up at the

2011 Berlin Marathon The 2011 Berlin Marathon was the 38th edition of the annual marathon event and was held on Sunday 25 September on the streets of Berlin, Germany. The men's race was won by Patrick Makau of Kenya in a world record time of 2:03:38 hours. The women' ...

and came fourth at the

2013 Berlin Marathon The 2013 Berlin Marathon was the 40th edition of the Berlin Marathon, held in Berlin, Germany. It took place on Sunday, 29 September. The race was sponsored by BMW, being officially titled the BMW Berlin Marathon. The men's race was won by Wilson ...

. He has won the Dalian Marathon (twice), the

Tiberias Marathon The Tiberias Marathon is an annual marathon road race held along the Sea of Galilee in Israel. At approximately 200 meters below sea level, this is the lowest course in the world. The competition was first held in 1977, and also hosts the annual I ...

and the Macau Marathon. He gained a master's degree in computer science from

Iona College Iona University is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Roman Catholic university with a main campus in New Rochelle, New York. It was founded in 1940 by the Congregation of Christian Brothers and occupies a campus of in New Rochell ...

in the United States in 2008 and represented the school athletically.

Career

Early life and career

Born in

Kapsokwony Kapsokwony is a small town in Bungoma County, Kenya. The town is part of Mount Elgon County Council and Mount Elgon Constituency. Kapsokwony division has a population of 24,526, of whom 1,586 are classified as urban (1999 census International Lives ...

in Kenya's

Western Province Western Province or West Province may refer to: *Western Province, Cameroon *Western Province, Rwanda *Western Province (Kenya) *Western Province (Papua New Guinea) *Western Province (Solomon Islands) *Western Province, Sri Lanka *Western Provinc ...

, he studied abroad at

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. While studying for a degree in

computer science Computer science is the study of computation, automation, and information. Computer science spans theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, information theory, and automation) to Applied science, practical discipli ...

he also competed collegiately for the

Iona Gaels The Iona Gaels are the athletics teams of Iona University, in New Rochelle, New York. They compete in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) and participate in 21 NCAA Division I programs. Varsity athletic programs Men's basketball I ...

team. He appeared three times at the

NCAA Men's Cross Country Championship The NCAA Division I Men's Cross Country Championship is the cross country championship held by the National Collegiate Athletic Association each autumn for individual men's runners and cross country teams from universities in Division I. Teams a ...

, with his best finish of 33rd place coming in 2004. He won back-to-back

Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC, ) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with NCAA Division I. Of its current 11 full members, 10 are located in three states of the northeastern United States: Connecticut, New Jersey, and N ...

indoor titles in the

3000 metres The 3000 metres or 3000-metre run is a track running event, also commonly known as the "3K" or "3K run", where 7.5 laps are run around an outdoor 400 m track, or 15 laps around a 200 m indoor track. It is debated whether the 3000m shoul ...

and

5000 metres The 5000 metres or 5000-metre run is a common long-distance running event in track and field, approximately equivalent to or . It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics, run over laps of a stan ...

from 2005 to 2006. His sole outing at the

NCAA Men's Outdoor Track and Field Championships The NCAA Division I Men's Outdoor Track and Field Championship is an annual collegiate outdoor track and field competition for men organised by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Athlete's individual performances earn points for ...

saw him finish twelfth in the 5000 m in 2006. He completed his degree in 2006 and continued on to get a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

in computer science from Iona College in 2008. He met Emily Chelanga (another Kenyan athlete) in New York and the pair had their first child, Faith, around 2006.Makori, Elias (2013-05-23)
Kenya’s brightest ‘rabbit’ sets the pace
. ''

Daily Nation The ''Daily Nation'' is the highest circulation Kenyan independent newspaper with 170,000 copies. History The ''Daily Nation'' was started in the year 1958 as a Swahili language, Swahili weekly called ''Taifa'' by the Englishman Charles Hay ...

''. Retrieved on 2014-03-21. After finishing his first degree, Chemlany began to compete in

road running Road running is the sport of running on a measured course over an established road. This differs from track and field on a regular track and cross country running over natural terrain. These events are usually classified as long-distance ac ...

events. Running for Westchester Track Club, he came first in the

New York Road Runners New York Road Runners (NYRR) is a non-profit running organization based in New York City whose mission is to help and inspire people through running. It was founded in 1958 by Ted Corbitt with 47 members and has since grown to a membership of more ...

road mile championship in 2007. He came eleventh at the

Healthy Kidney 10K The UAE Healthy Kidney 10K was an annual road running event over 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) that took place in May in New York City in the United States. The event featured both an elite-level men's race and a general mass race for fun runners. Almo ...

and ran a time of 67:19 minutes at the

Virginia Beach Half Marathon The Rock 'n' Roll Virginia Beach Half Marathon was an annual half marathon road running event which took place in Virginia Beach, United States, on the first Sunday of September between the years of 2001 and 2021. Owned and organized by the IRONM ...

in September. After graduating from Iona in 2008, he ran a half marathon best of 64:39 minutes in

Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since the ...

and, on his

debut, came second at the St. Jude Marathon in 2:20:57 hours. His performances improved in 2009: he was fifth at the Healthy Kidney 10K and the

Cherry Blossom 10-miler The Cherry Blossom Ten Mile Run is an annual 10-mile (16 km) road race in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1973 originally as a precursor training run for elite runners planning to compete in the Boston Marathon, the race has evolved over the ye ...

. He won the Virginia Beach half marathon in a new best time of 62:56 minutes. Over the marathon distance, he came third at the Mississippi Blues Marathon, fifth in

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the seat of Duval County, with which the ...

, then ran a personal best of 2:16:14 hours to finish fourth at the Country Music Marathon.Stephen Chemlany
Tilastopaja. Retrieved on 2014-03-21.

Professional marathon running

Having seen elite American runners travel to Kenya for high altitude training, he decided to return to his native Kenya to improve his running. This also made economic sense for the runner: "In the US, one needs to work alongside training to survive because it’s too expensive, especially in New York, and I wanted to focus on my training". Chemlany had three marathon outings in 2010 and his times were again improved: he ran 2:13:23 horus for sixth at the

and in April won his first race with a time of 2:13:10 at the Dalian Marathon. H was also runner-up at the Macau Marathon at the end of the year. A run of 2:10:02 was enough to win the 2011 Tiberias Marathon and he retained his title in Dalian.Stephen Kwelio Chemlany
.

World Marathon Majors The World Marathon Majors (WMM) (known for sponsorship reasons as the Abbott World Marathon Majors) is a championship-style competition for marathon runners that started in 2006. A points-based competition founded on six major marathon races recog ...

. Retrieved on 2014-03-21. Given his performances, he was invited to run as a

pacemaker An artificial cardiac pacemaker (or artificial pacemaker, so as not to be confused with the natural cardiac pacemaker) or pacemaker is a medical device that generates electrical impulses delivered by electrodes to the chambers of the heart eith ...

for the top level

. Initially tasked with leading runners up to the 30 km mark at world record pace, he continued after that point. The winner

Patrick Makau Patrick Makau Musyoki (born 2 March 1985) is a runner from Kenya. He is a former world record holder in the marathon—His time of 2:03:38, run at the 2011 Berlin Marathon, was the world record for two years, until it was beaten by Wilson Kipsa ...

broke the

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organization ...

and Chemlany was next to finish, recording a significant improvement upon his past times with a run of 2:07:55 hours. He ended the year with a win at the Macau Marathon. His two races in 2012 did not match the performances of the previous year as he was fifth at the

Rotterdam Marathon The Rotterdam Marathon, currently branded NN Rotterdam Marathon, is an annual marathon that has been held in Rotterdam, Netherlands since 1981. It has been held in April every year since the third edition in 1984 and attracts many top athletes. ...

and seventh at the

Shanghai Marathon The Shanghai International Marathon is an annual marathon in late autumn hosted by Shanghai, China, since 1996. The marathon is categorized as a Platinum Label Road Race by World Athletics. The marathon starts at the ''Bund Bull'' and finishe ...

(slower than two hours, ten minutes on both occasions). His 2013 began with a better outing, as he was third at the

Rome Marathon The Rome Marathon is an annual marathon competition hosted by the city of Rome, Italy. History The competition has also doubled as the Italian Marathon championships on two occasions; in 1983 and 1986. The race date was shifted from the t ...

in 2:08:30 hours. A new personal best of 2:07:44 hours came at the

, although the race was even faster in that year as the world record was broken by

Wilson Kipsang Wilson Kipsang Kiprotich (born 15 March 1982) is a Kenyan professional athlete who specialises in long-distance running, competing in events ranging from 10 km to the marathon. He was the bronze medallist in the marathon at the 2012 Summer O ...

and Chemlany's time was enough for fourth only. He reached the podium again at the Shanghai Marathon, coming third. The

Seoul International Marathon The Seoul International Marathon, also known as the ''Dong-A Ilbo Seoul Marathon or Seoul Marathon'' is an annual marathon race that takes place in Seoul, South Korea. It is one of two annual races over the 42.195 km classic distance in the ...

in March 2014 was a venue for further improvement, to 2:06:24 hours, and he was runner-up to Ethiopia's

Yacob Jarso Yacob Jarso Kintra (born 5 February 1988) is an Ethiopian professional long-distance runner and former steeplechaser. He has represented Ethiopia at the 2008 Summer Olympics and the 2009 World Championships in Athletics. He became his country's ...

.Minshull, Phil (2014-03-16)
Jarso smashes personal best with 2:06:17 to win in Seoul
IAAF. Retrieved on 2014-03-21.

Personal bests

1500 metres The 1500 metres or 1,500-metre run (typically pronounced 'fifteen-hundred metres') is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athletic ...

– 3:46.29 (2006) *

Mile run The mile run (1,760 yards or exactly 1,609.344 metres) is a middle-distance foot race. The history of the mile run event began in England, where it was used as a distance for gambling races. It survived track and field's switch to ...

(road) – 4:05.6h (2007) *

(indoor) – 8:14.75 (2005) *

– 14:03.89 (2006) *

10,000 metres The 10,000 metres or the 10,000-metre run is a common long-distance track running event. The event is part of the athletics programme at the Olympic Games and the World Athletics Championships, and is common at championship level events. The race ...

– 29:17.89 (2006) *

10K run 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1 ...

– 28:41 (2009) *

Half marathon A half marathon is a road running event of —half the distance of a marathon. It is common for a half marathon event to be held concurrently with a marathon or a 5K race, using almost the same course with a late start, an early finish or shortcu ...

– 1:01:33 (2013) *

Marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair div ...

– 2:06:24 (2014)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chemlany, Stephen Living people 1982 births Kenyan male long-distance runners Kenyan male marathon runners Iona Gaels men's track and field athletes People from Western Province (Kenya) Athletes (track and field) at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Kenya Iona Gaels men's cross country runners Medallists at the 2014 Commonwealth Games