Vincent Kipruto Limo (born 13 September 1987) is a Kenyan

long distance runner Long may refer to: Measurement * Long, characteristic of something of great duration * Long, characteristic of something of great length * Longitude (abbreviation: long.), a geographic coordinate * Longa (music), note value in early music men ...

who specialises in the marathon. He made his debut in the event in 2008 and won the Paris Marathon a year later. He then placed top three at the

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 ...

and 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 ...

(where he ran a personal best of 2:05:13 hours). In his first international appearance he won the silver medal at the

2011 World Championships in Athletics The 13th IAAF World Championships in Athletics () was an international athletics competition that was held in Daegu, South Korea. It started on 27 August 2011 and finished on 4 September 2011. The United States topped the medal standings in th ...

. He won the 2013

Lake Biwa Marathon The was a marathon race held in Otsu, Shiga, Japan. It was one of the prominent marathons in Japan. It was a male only competition and had IAAF Gold Label status.Nakamura, Ken (2010-03-07)Tsegay takes Lake Biwa crown IAAF. Retrieved on 2010- ...

and

Frankfurt Marathon The Frankfurt Marathon (official name as of 2016: Mainova Frankfurt Marathon, until 2015: BMW Frankfurt Marathon, until 2010: Commerzbank Frankfurt Marathon) is a marathon which has taken place every year in Frankfurt am Main since its inception i ...

Career

Born in the south of Kenya's

Keiyo District Keiyo District (also known as ''Elgeyo district'' or Elgeiyo) is a defunct administrative district in the former Rift Valley Province of Kenya. The district was formed in 1994, when ''Elgeyo/Marakwet-District'' was split into two - the other half wa ...

, Kipruto was the eldest child in his family. His family had their own cattle and he often ran uphill to bring them water. He was inspired by the achievements of William Kiplagat, a marathon runner who lived locally, and Kipruto began representing his school in the

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 ...

. He was academically focused as a child and even though he began to train with Colm O' Connell's group, he did not take up running full-time until he had finished his KCSE examinations. Impressed by his performances at the provincial championships, Kiplagat offered to become Kipruto's coach and mentor. Kipruto travelled to the Netherlands in 2007 to compete professionally for the first time and he won a series of road races. He made his debut over the marathon distance at the 2008 Reims Marathon, recording a time of 2:08:16 for third place. He began his 2009 season with a fourth-place finish at the

Egmond Half Marathon The Egmond Half Marathon ( nl, Egmond Halve Marathon) is an annual half marathon race over 21.1 kilometres that has been staged in Egmond aan Zee, Netherlands since 1973. The competition normally takes place in early January. Sections of the road ...

in a time of 1:06:01.Vincent Kipruto
.

. Retrieved on 11 April 2010. He was part of a strong field of runners for the 2009 Paris Marathon and he surprised the race favourites by winning in a course record time of 2:05:47, breaking Michael Rotich's six-year-old record by over 45 seconds. This established him as the thirteenth fastest runner over the distance at the time. After this he won the Giro Podistico Internazionale race in

Castelbuono Castelbuono ( Sicilian: ''Castiddubbuonu'') is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Palermo, Sicily (southern Italy). Fountain of Venere Ciprea. It is known for its castle from which its name derives, and around which the city devel ...

, Italy, dispatching Duncan Kibet among others. He was invited to the

and managed to finish third, recording 2:06:08 to place behind Abderrahim Goumri and

Samuel Wanjiru Samuel Kamau Wanjiru (10 November 1986 – 15 May 2011) was a Kenyan long-distance runner who won the 2008 Beijing Olympics Marathon in an Olympic record time of 2:06:32; becoming the first Kenyan to win the Olympic gold in the marathon. He beca ...

(who set a new course record). He opened the 2010 season with a run at the Zayed International Half Marathon and although he set a half marathon best of 1:01:43, he finished out of contention in eleventh place. Running at the

, he again improved his marathon best with a time of 2:05:13 making him the tenth fastest runner over the distance at the time. However, this was only enough for third as rivals Patrick Makau and

Geoffrey Mutai Geoffrey Kiprono Mutai (born 7 October 1981) is a Kenyan long distance runner who specialises in road running competitions. On 18 April 2011 at the Boston Marathon, Mutai ran the fastest marathon ever at the time in a time of 2 hours 3 minutes 2 ...

both ran under 2:05:00. He returned to the Giro Podistico race in

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

that year but could not defend his title and finished in third place as

Zersenay Tadese Zersenay Tadese (Tigrinya: ዘርእሰናይ ታደሰ; born 8 February 1982) is an Eritrean long-distance track and road running athlete. He held the men's half marathon world record from 2010 to 2018. His bronze medal in the 10,000 metres ...

went on to win. An appearance at the 2010 Chicago Marathon resulted in a fifth-place finish in a time of 2:09:08, a mark below his best form. He opened 2011 with a second-place finish at the Discovery Kenya Half Marathon in Eldoret, coming behind Abraham Chebii. He returned to Rotterdam in April and posted a fast time of 2:05:33, taking the runner-up spot behind Wilson Chebet. He stepped down to the shorter distance for the World 10K Bangalore in June and came fifth. He was selected for the Kenyan marathon team at the

. In the race he edged past Feyisa Lilesa in the late stages to take the silver medal and form a Kenyan 1–2 with the defending champion Abel Kirui. In November, he took on

Haile Gebrselassie Haile Gebrselassie ( am, ኀይሌ ገብረ ሥላሴ, ''haylē gebre silassē''; born 18 April 1973) is an Ethiopian retired long-distance track, road running athlete, and businessman. He won two Olympic gold medals and four World Champion ...

at the Zevenheuvelenloop race and finished second behind the Ethiopian. Kipruto competed sparingly in 2012, running a best of 60:46 minutes at the Roma-Ostia Half Marathon and entering two marathons: he was 13th at the 2012 London Marathon and managed only ninth at the Hangzhou International Marathon. The following year he returned to action with a runner-up finish at the

(behind

Abera Kuma Abera Kuma Lema (born 31 August 1990) is an Ethiopian long distance runner, who competes in track, cross country, and road running events. An African junior champion over 5000 m, he won his first senior international medal (a team bronze) at the ...

) and won the

in Japan. He continued his winning streak by finishing first at the Lille Half Marathon in a personal best 60:39 minutes and edging

Mark Kiptoo Mark may refer to: Currency * Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina * East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic * Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927 * Fin ...

by one second to take the title at the

.„Ich will 2014 wieder in Frankfurt laufen“
. ''Runners World''. Retrieved 2 November 2013.

Achievements

Personal bests

*All information taken from IAAF profile.

References

External links

*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kipruto, Vincent 1987 births Living people People from Elgeyo-Marakwet County Kenyan male long-distance runners Kenyan male marathon runners Paris Marathon male winners World Athletics Championships medalists Frankfurt Marathon male winners