Record-breaker is distance running’s hottest celebrity

PHOTO/AFP Kenya’s Wilson Kipsang celebrates winning the 40th edition of the Berlin Marathon in a new world record time of 2.03.23 last year.

What you need to know:

  • His blistering time of two hours, three minutes and 23 seconds at the BMW Berlin Marathon shaved 15 seconds off compatriot Patrick Makau’s previous mark recorded two years earlier on the same course in the German political capital.
  • With Kenya’s First Lady Margaret Kenyatta running to raise funds for her Beyond Zero charity at Sunday’s London Marathon, which starts at 10.30am, Kenyan time, there is increased interest in the race this year.

Last year’s world record run in Berlin catapulted 32-year-old policeman Wilson Kipsang to global acclaim, making him the most sought-after distance running star in the world.

His blistering time of two hours, three minutes and 23 seconds at the BMW Berlin Marathon shaved 15 seconds off compatriot Patrick Makau’s previous mark recorded two years earlier on the same course in the German political capital.

Kipsang’s Dutch manager Gerard van de Veen’s phone immediately rang off the hook with requests for photo shoots from numerous blue chip companies, including BMW automobiles, Adidas sportswear and even Netherlands-based manufacturer of solar products, Pfixx Solar Systems BV.

It was a major breakthrough for Kipsang who, in 2012, came agonisingly close to breaking Makau’s world record at the Frankfurt Marathon, falling just four seconds short by clocking a painful 2:03.42.

Kipsang, whose wife Doreen is also a part-time runner, is currently one of the biggest investors in his home town of Iten where, last year, he completed the construction of the Keellu Resort, further increasing Iten’s much sought-after bed capacity.

After his late departure to London last night, it’s hardly surprising that a hectic schedule awaits him in the English capital today where he is lined up to address an international media conference at the London Tower Hotel at 3pm, local time, after a photo-call on the famous Tower Bridge.

With Kenya’s First Lady Margaret Kenyatta running to raise funds for her Beyond Zero charity at Sunday’s London Marathon, which starts at 10.30am, Kenyan time, there is increased interest in the race this year.

The London Marathon celebrities’ field will also include nine British members of Parliament led by Labour Party’s Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls, who is the MP for Morley and Outwood.