Kelvin Kiptum Cheruiyot (2 December 1999 – 11 February 2024) was a Kenyan long-distance runner and the marathon world record holder at the time of his death.

He was the only person in history to run the marathon under two hours and one minute in a record-eligible race. He ran three of the seven fastest marathons in history.

Kiptum won three marathons he participated in, all renowned, including two top-tier World Marathon Majors (WMM), and held between December 2022 and October 2023. The times he achieved are three of the six fastest times in history, a course record under 2:02 in each case, making him the only man ever to break this barrier thrice.

Kiptum ran the fastest-ever marathon debut at the 2022 Valencia Marathon, becoming only the third man in history to break two hours and two minutes and setting the then fourth-quickest time ever. Kiptum followed it up four months later with the second-fastest marathon in history at 2:01:25, 16 seconds outside the world record, at the 2023 London Marathon (WMM). In his next race, the 2023 Chicago Marathon (WMM) six months later in October 2023, the 23-year-old broke the world record by 34 seconds with a time of two hours and 35 seconds.

Early life

Kelvin Kiptum was born on 2 December 1999. He grew up in Chepsamo village, Chepkorio—the high-altitude (~2600 m) area in picturesque Elgeyo-Marakwet County of Kenya's Rift Valley. It is located some 30 km east of Eldoret, on the southeastern border of the Kaptagat forest, and just near the edge of the meridional Elgeyo (Keiyo) escarpment to the east, which rapidly gives way to the lower Kerio Valley (800–1,200 m). Together with nearby counties of Kenya, the region is known as the birthplace of many renowned Kenyan runners and also as a mecca for foreign runners. As a young boy, he herded his family's cattle and began following other barefoot runners along the forest trails. Kiptum started training around 2013, when he was 13 years old.

Career

In 2013, at the age of 13, Kiptum participated in his first half marathon, the Family Bank Eldoret Half Marathon in his native Kenya, finishing 10th; he placed 12th the following year. In 2018, the teenager took his first victory, winning this race with a time of 62:01. He was self-coached at the time. Kiptum then debuted on the international stage at the Lisbon Half Marathon, Portugal, in March 2019, finishing fifth with a new personal best of 59:54. He participated also in six other races that year touring the north and west Europe, and winning the tough Kass Half Marathon back home in November. It was reported that in 2020 Kiptum had started working with Rwandan 3000 metres steeplechase record holder Gervais Hakizimana as a coach, although Kiptum supposedly had periodically trained alongside other youths with him since 2013. Since about 2020, he was already preparing for the marathon. In December that year, the then-21-year-old set a significant personal best in the Spanish Valencia Half Marathon marathon at 58:42, placing sixth. In 2021, he ran 59:35 and 59:02 half marathons in Lens, France (placing first) and Valencia again (placing eighth), respectively.

In December, 23-year-old Kiptum pulled off an upset when debuting in the classic 42.195 km distance at the Valencia Marathon. Running with a negative split, he took the victory with the fourth-fastest time ever of 2:01:53, becoming the third man in history to break two hours and two minutes. Only his compatriot and then-world record holder Eliud Kipchoge (2:01:09 and 2:01:39) and Ethiopia's Kenenisa Bekele (2:01:41) had run faster up to that point. Kiptum set the quickest second half in marathon history with a time of 60:15 (including 14:00 from 30-35k and 28:05 between 30-40k). His winning time was by far the fastest marathon debut in history, smashing the course record by over a minute. He also beat the runner-up by more than a minute and the 2022 world marathon champion Tamirat Tola, pre-race favourite, among others.

Personal life and death

At 11:00 pm local time on 11 February 2024, Kiptum was killed in a road traffic accident between Kaptagat and Eldoret, Kenya, along with his coach Gervais Hakizimana. Local police stated that Kiptum was the driver of a Toyota Premio. He lost control and veered off the road. Then the car entered into a ditch and hit a big tree 60 meters away. Kiptum left behind his wife, Asenath Rotich and two children.