Evans Rutto (born 8 April 1978 in

Marakwet District Marakwet District is a defunct administrative district in the former Rift Valley Province of Kenya. Its capital town was Kapsowar. The district had a population of 140.629. Local people are predominantly of the Marakwet tribe. The district was cr ...

) is a Kenyan long-distance runner, who specialises 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 ...

events. He made the fastest-ever marathon debut by winning the 2003

Chicago Marathon The Chicago Marathon is a marathon (long-distance foot race) held every October in Chicago, Illinois. It is one of the six World Marathon Majors. Thus, it is also a World Athletics Label Road Race. The Chicago Marathon is the fourth-largest r ...

in a time of 2:05:50. He won the

London Marathon The London Marathon is an annual marathon held in London, United Kingdom, and is the 2nd largest annual road race in the UK, after the Great North Run in Newcastle. Founded by athletes Chris Brasher and John Disley in 1981, it is typically he ...

and a second title in Chicago the following year. After 2004, Rutto's form dipped considerably and in 2006 he took time away from marathoning due to injury. He has not yet returned to competition, although his personal best still keeps him within the top-20 fastest runners of all time.

Career

His first major competition was the

1999 IAAF World Cross Country Championships The 1999 IAAF World Cross Country Championships took place on 27 and 28 March 1999. The races were held at the Barnett Demesne/ Queen's University Playing Fields in Belfast, United Kingdom. Reports of the event were given in ''The New York Ti ...

and he finished in fifth place in the long race and helped secure a dominant Kenyan finish in the team competition. Rutto became an elite runner at the 10k to

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 shortcut ...

distances: he won the 2001 Beach to Beacon race and was the top Kenyan finisher at the

2001 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships The 10th IAAF World Half Marathon Championships was held on 7 October 2001 in the city of Bristol, UK, and was run immediately before that year's Bristol Half Marathon. A total of 200 athletes, 125 men and 75 women, from 52 countries took part. D ...

with a run of 1:00:43 for sixth place. He moved up to the marathon in 2003 and won the

with a record debut time of 2:05:50, making him the fourth-fastest marathoner ever at the time (after

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 ...

Sammy Korir Sammy Korir (born December 12, 1971) is a long distance runner from Kenya. Biography Korir was born in Kiboswa village, Nandi county of Rift Valley province, Kenya. In 2003 he finished second in Berlin Marathon with a time of 2:04:56, just one s ...

and

Khalid Khannouchi Khalid Khannouchi ( ar, خالد خنّوشي) (born September 12, 1971) is a retired American marathoner. He was born in Meknes, Morocco. He is the former world record holder for the marathon and held the former road world best for the 20 km ...

). This was the fastest-ever time for a marathon debut and remains so – it also remains his personal best time. He opened his 2004 season with a win at the

, beating Sammy Korir to the finish by half a minute. He returned to the Chicago course in October and defended his title with a winning time of 2:06:16 – over a minute and a half ahead of runner-up Daniel Njenga. These two times placed Rutto at the top two spots on the season's fastest marathons list for 2004. His 2005 performances were considerably less successful as he only managed tenth place at the London Marathon, losing his unbeaten record of three straight victories. His fastest time of the year, 2:07:28, was only enough to bring him fourth at the Chicago Marathon. At the 2006 London Marathon he was in tenth place again and appeared in agony at the end of the race. Rutto took time out from competitive running after a disappointing 2006, due to injury and personal problems. He trains with Kimbia Athletics and is coached by

Dieter Hogen Dieter or dieter may refer to: * A person committed to dieting People Dieter is a German given name (), a short form of Dietrich, from ''theod+ric'' "people ruler", see Theodoric. Given name * Dieter Althaus (born 1958), German politician ...

. Rutto is married with three children, Winnie, Dennis, and Dieter (after Coach Dieter Hogen) (as of 2005). His father Kilimo Yano was also a runner, whose personal best at

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 ra ...

was 29 minutes. He won the 2014

Mumbai Marathon The Mumbai Marathon (known as the Tata Mumbai Marathon for sponsorship reasons by Tata Group), is an annual international marathon held in Mumbai, India, on the third Sunday of January every year. It is the largest marathon in Asia as well as t ...

losing out on the course record by one second and a US$15,000 bonus for it.

Personal bests

*All information taken from IAAF profile.

Competition record

References

External links

*
Marathoninfo profileKimbia AthleticsVideo interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rutto, Evans 1978 births Living people People from Elgeyo-Marakwet County Kenyan male long-distance runners Kenyan male marathon runners London Marathon male winners Chicago Marathon male winners Kenyan male cross country runners