Rotterdam Marathon: We’ll run race of our lives in honour of Kelvin Kiptum, says Kenneth Kipkemoi

For a week, following Kelvin Kiptum’s tragic death on February 11 this year, Eindhoven Marathon champion Kenneth Kipkemoi skipped all his training sessions.

Like fellow Kenyan athletes and the global running world, Kipkemoi was devastated.

He just couldn’t find motivation to run any more.

Kiptum died on the spot in a car crash along the Kaptagat-Eldoret road on the night of February 11 alongside his Rwandan coach Gervais Hakizimana.

“When I visited the mortuary in Eldoret and saw Kelvin and coach Gervais lying there, motionless, I asked myself ‘What is the meaning of running? It means nothing anymore’…,” an emotional Kipkemoi, 40, told a press conference at the Hilton Rotterdam ahead of today’s NN Rotterdam Marathon.

It’s the race in which Kiptum, 24, had declared he would run a sub-two hour time to improve on his world marathon record of 2:00:35 clocked at last October’s Chicago Marathon.

Speaking at the pre-race press conference on Friday, Dutch marathon champion Abdi Nageeye, who has been training in Kaptagat ahead of today’s race, admitted that he has also struggled to put the tragedy behind him and soldier on.

Nageeye won a silver medal in the marathon at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and was winner of the Rotterdam Marathon in 2022 and runner up last year.

With Kiptum having vowed to dip under two hours in today’s race, Nageeye, 34, had pitched camp next door to Kiptum in Kaptagat to train for the big race today.

Race plans

But with Kiptum’s demise, the Somali-born Dutchman conceded that his race plans were at sixes and sevens.

“As an athlete when you go for a run it’s a healing process, and you forget many things…,” Nageeye who arrived in Rotterdam from his Kaptagat camp on Thursday said.

“But now we have no plan, we don’t know what pace to run (without Kiptum)… we were planning to have athletes qualifying for the Ethiopian Olympic team and I was personally planning to improve on my national record…

“Kelvin had planned for the race, he knew what he wanted (sub-two hour time) and we had settled to run behind him and run a reasonable, good race and not to destroy four months of training,” added Nageeye who is the third-fastest man in today’s field after Ethiopia’s Birhanu Legese (2:02:48) and Kipkemoi (2:04:52) with a personal best time of 2:04:56.

Kipkemoi also arrived in Rotterdam on Thursday having trained over long periods with Kiptum and Team Golazo mainly in Kaptagat.

Read: Kelvin Kiptum’s meteoric rise from humble beginnings

He won the Eindhoven Marathon in the Dutch technology hub of Eindhoven last year and at 40 years, he believes he has still enough gas for another leap of faith in Rotterdam where he won the 2018 edition of the Rotterdam Marathon.

Devastated by Kiptum’s sudden demise, Kipkemoi, third at the 2019 Boston Marathon, now says he will “run as fast as my feet can carry me” in today’s race.

“I was badly affected by the tragic death of Kelvin, because he was my close friend,” Kipkemoi responded to a question by Nation Sport ahead of today’s race, battling back tears as journalists at the pre-race press conference at the Rotterdam Hilton joined in sympathy.

“He was my training mate and I spent a lot of time with him…” he added, revealing the Kiptum was in great shape and was confident of dipping under two hours in today’s race in which he would have been the marquee athlete.

World record

“Two weeks before his death, Kelvin told me he was serious about breaking his world record. He said he was going for a sub-two hour time…

“I asked him: ‘Kelvin, are you going to run a sub-two or a world record?’ He told me he was going for 1:58 (one hour and 58 minutes)

“I then called his coach Gervais who told me ‘Kelvin is in good shape and is going to do a sub-two hour.’

“I told myself that if Kelvin is going to run a sub-two hour race in Rotterdam, then Rotterdam would certainly be one of the next World Marathon Majors races.”

Kipkemoi said he stopped training for a week after Kiptum’s death.

“I never trained for a week because immediately Kelvin passed on, I went to the mortuary at midnight to see my two friends (Kiptum and coach Hakizimana).

“I was asking myself, ‘are we still racing? What is life? After seeing him lying there, I told myself life would never be the same again… it was horrible to lose such a young man. A promising guy who was to make history by becoming the first man to run the marathon competition in under two hours.

“Whenever we cross the forest during training, we imagine Kelvin will emerge, with the smile that he had… he was so jovial, and I feel the pain athletes and the family, and also our managers Bob (Verbeeck) and Marc (Corstjens), are feeling.”

Kipkemoi is in a field that includes six Kenyan athletes in today’s race, among them Novestus Kirwa, 29, who Kiptum had roped in as his designated pacemaker for what would have been a world record attempt today.

The others are Enock Onchari, winner of last year’s Wuxi Marathon in China (PB 2:05:47), Barnaba Kipkoech (2:08:21), Lamech Too (2:11:00) and Isaac Temoi Kipsang (2:11:22).

The Kenyans in the women’s field include two-time world cross country champion Emily Chebet, who will be making her marathon debut, Sally Kaptich (PB 2:20:03), who was second in last year’s Barcelona and Shanghai marathons and seventh at last year’s World Athletics Championships in Budapest and Pascalia Jepkogei (PB 2:22:47), second here last year.

Viola Kibiwott (PB 2:22:57), who has transitioned brilliantly from the track after finishing in the top eight four times at the World Athletics Championships in the 1,500 and 5,000 metres, is the fourth Kenyan entry here today.

Also on the start list is Kenya-born Bahrain star Rose Chelimo who won the marathon gold medal at the 2017 World Athletics Championships after sensationally outpacing Kenyan veteran Edna Kiplagat in the final kilometre in London.

The fastest woman lining up today is Ethiopia’s Ashete Bekere (PB 2:17:58), winner of the 2018 Valencia Marathon and also champion in 2019 at the Berlin and Rotterdam marathons.

Her other, latest accolades include a second place finish in Tokyo in 2022 and third last year in the Japanese capital alongside a fourth place at last year’s Amsterdam and third at the 2021 London Marathon.

Sunday’s race will start at 11am, Kenyan time (10am Rotterdam time) with the field chasing the men’s and women’s course records held by Belgium’s Bashir Abdi (2:03:36 from 2021) and Ethiopia’s Tiki Gelana (2:18:58 from way back in 2012).

Kipkemoi said although he is 40, he will run a race of his life today in honour of Kiptum.

“Age is just a number,” he said. “As long as you have the passion, you will continue to run, so don’t worry about my age.

“I had said that although my friend and training mate Kelvin was faster than me, I was ready to challenge him in Rotterdam, but, unfortunately, we lost him. We will do our part in honouring our fallen hero… we will run as fast as our legs will carry us. My plan is to run as fast as I can.”

The race will be run in honour of Kiptum with a minute’s silence to be observed ahead of the start.

Kiptum’s running number (No. 1) has also been retired by race organisers in honour of the fallen world marathon record holder.

All 50,000 runners today will also wear a black ribbon in honour of Kiptum with the organisers having contributed 50,000 Euros (about Sh7 million) representing one Euro for each athlete towards the Kelvin Kiptum Foundation.

On Friday, Chinese sports watch manufacturers Amazfit launched a limited edition “Kelvin Kiptum Commemorative edition” watch to commemorate Kiptum’s world record, 2:00:35 run.

Only 235 units have been produced, and are retailing at a price of the magical number, $235 (about Sh30,500).

Amazfit also donated $100,000 (Sh13 million) to the Kelvin Kiptum Foundation that will be chaired by Athletics Kenya President Jackson Tuwei who is also in Rotterdam for today’s race.

Treasury Principal Secretary Chris Kiptoo, who is also a member of the Kiptum family, is also here for the race alongside Kenya’s ambassador to The Netherlands Margaret Shava.