Kelvin Kiptum dominated local and global headlines after shattering Eliud Kipchoge's marathon record when he ran on the Chicago course in October.
This achievement thrusted him into a galaxy of his own, generating intense interest in his life and what his normal day-to-day undertakings look like.
So what are some interesting things you need to know about the marathon star and his career?
Lost hope
Before he became a superstar, Kiptum's family had already lost hope in him while he was in secondary school.
This was revealed by his uncle, Kiplagat Cheruiyot, who said that Kiptum's chances of succeeding on the track had been questioned by some members of the family.
Some members wanted the runner to concentrate on education since no one took him seriously, and a lack of training shoes compounded his problems.
“He started training at a young age. He had stopped school, where he was to upgrade his certificate as an electrician.
"When he started running, we told him he was headed nowhere; we saw him as a useless young man who had lost focus in life. By that time, we did not see any future for him since he had no running shoes.
"He even went ahead to borrow sports shoes from Geoffrey Kamworor unsuccessfully,” Cheruiyot revealed.
His success in marathons started when he won the Eldoret Half Marathon in 2018 and the Kass Half Marathon in 2019 before going on to conquer the Valencia, London, and Chicago Marathons all within three years.
Kiptum's outstanding marathon pace
The 23-year-old registered the new and fastest record in the 42.195 km distance when he ran in 2:00:35, beating a record that had been recorded by Kipchoge in the Berlin Marathon.
But how exactly did Kiptum obliterate Kipchoge's record? We take a keen look at how he covered kilometres on his way to stardom.
The Chepkorio-born star had an average pace of around 2:51 min/km, which was superior to the 2:52 min/km run by Kipchoge in 2022.
He started the race slower than Kipchoge since he ran the first five kilometres in 14:26, which was 12 seconds slower than Kipchoge's 14:14 record in Berlin.
At 10km, Kipchoge was still faster than Kiptum; the former covered that distance in 28:23 compared to the latter's 28:42. The rate did not change much at the 20km mark, as Kipchoge was faster again, crossing that mark in 56:45, compared to Kiptum’s 57:39.
Kiptum's remarkable achievement came from how fast he covered the latter stage of the race. At 30km, his pace became faster as compared to Kipchoge's. He crossed that mark in 14:27, compared to Kipchoge's 14:32.
He ran full blast towards the closing kilometres of the race, and his five-kilometre split of 13:51 between kilometres 30 and 35 was a full 39 seconds faster than Kipchoge’s.
The youngster reached the 40km mark with a 5km split of 14:01, a distance that was covered in 14:43 by Kipchoge. Kiptum covered the last 2.195km in 6:12, which was four seconds faster than Kipchoge’s equivalent.
Insane training regime
After his Chicago record attracted considerable attention, the next focus was on how the runner trains regularly.
Kiptum is coached by Gervais Hakiziman, who revealed how insanely the runner is always training, especially before major races.
According to the Rwandan, Kiptum trains by running between 250 and 280 km, sometimes more than 300km every week, compared to Kipchoge's 180 and 220km.
His training programme is established over four months, and this training regime also involves strengthening and bodybuilding.
Kiptum jogs in the morning for between 25 and 28km at a pace ranging from 4’10 per kilometer to 3'40, or 12km jogging in the afternoon on Monday.
The following day, track sessions are the main focus, and this involves a split race alternating between fast and slow paces. He concludes the day with an hour of 12 kilometres of jogging in the afternoon.
His Wednesday training programme is more like Monday, as he runs between 25 and 28 km in the morning and around 12km in the afternoon.
He clocks about 30km to 40km on Thursday at a close marathon pace, and in the afternoon he engages in no activities.
On Friday, he will jog for about 25 to 28km in the morning, followed by a 12km slow run in the afternoon. He focuses on tracks and splits on the road on Saturday, and on Sunday, he runs between 32km and 40km at a fast pace before resting in the afternoon.
Heroics in Valencia
It was in Valencia that Kiptum indeed started announcing himself as a force in the marathon after he became the third man ever to break 2:02 in the marathon.
This came as he made his debut at the 42.195km distance when he ran with a negative split and emerged the winner with the fourth-fastest time ever of 2:01:53.
This was a morale-boosting record for him, given that he came close to breaking Kenenisa Bekele's 2:01:41 and Kipchoge's 2:01:09 records.
According to World Athletics, the debutant's 60:15, which included 14:00 from 30-35k and 28:05 from 30-40k, set the quickest second half in marathon history.
This winning time was the fastest marathon debut ever registered in history, and in this regard, Kiptum broke the course record by over a minute. In addition, he beat the runner-up by more than a minute.
Undying hope
Before establishing himself as arguably a giant in his discipline, Kiptum underwent a series of heartbreaking setbacks.
He competed in his first marathon at the age of 13 during the 2014 Half Marathon in Eldoret and finished 10th before dropping to position 12 in 2014.
His first victory came almost five years later when he won his race in 62:01, and at this time he was self-coached.
His debut in a major international event came in 2019 when he competed in the Lisbon Half Marathon and ended up claiming the fifth position with a new personal best of 59:54.
This was just the beginning before he went on to conquer other marathons in the subsequent years.
