Isaac Kiprono Songok (born 25 April 1984 in Kaptel,

Nandi District Nandi County is a Counties of Kenya, county in Kenya in the North Rift, occupying an area of 2,884.4 square kilometres. Its capital, Kapsabet, is the largest town in the county while other towns include Mosoriot, Tinderet Constituency, Tinderet ...

) is a Kenyan long-distance runner. He went St. Patrick's High School in

Iten Iten is a town in Elgeyo-Marakwet County in the Republic of Kenya. Iten serves as the capital and is the largest town in the county. The town is located along the road between Eldoret and Kabarnet at the junction of the road heading to Kapsowar. ...

, famous for producing runners. In 2001 he set a new 2000 m World Junior Record (4:56.86) in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

and became World Youth Champion at 1500 metres. He is best known for winning the silver medal in the short race at the 2006 World Cross Country Championships. He is managed by

James Templeton James F. Templeton was a Scottish amateur footballer who played as a left half in the Scottish League for Queen's Park. He represented the Scottish League XI. Career statistics Honours Queen's Park * Glasgow Cup The Glasgow Cup is ...

and coached by

Colm O'Connell Brother Colm O'Connell is an Irish missionary and athletics coach, known as "the Godfather of Kenyan running". O'Connell is originally from Caherduggan, Mallow, County Cork. He joined the Patrician Brothers at the age of 14, training in Tullow, ...

. Songok is from Kaptel village, as is

Bernard Lagat Bernard Kipchirchir Lagat (born December 12, 1974) is a Kenyan-American middle and long-distance runner. Lagat was born in Kapsabet, Kenya. Prior to his change of domicile to the US, Lagat had an extensive competitive career representing his ...

, another famous athlete.

Achievements

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 ...

- 3:30.99 min (2004) *Mile - 3:54.56 min (2001) *

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 ...

- 7:28.72 min (2006) *

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 ...

- 12:48.66 min (2006)

External links

* *IAAF, March 27, 2006
Focus on Africa - Isaac Kiprono Songok (KEN)
1984 births Living people Kenyan male middle-distance runners Kenyan male long-distance runners Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for Kenya People from Nandi County Kenyan male cross country runners {{Kenya-athletics-bio-stub