Joseph Ngolepus (born 10 April 1975) is a Kenyan former marathon runner who won the 2001 Berlin Marathon, and finished third at the 2003 London Marathon. He also won the 2003 CPC Loop Den Haag half marathon, the 2004 Rock 'n' Roll San Diego Marathon, the 2006 Madrid Marathon, and the 2008 Paderborn Easter Run [de] half marathon.

Joseph Ngolepus
Joseph Ngolepus during the 2008 Berlin Marathon
Personal information
Born (1975-04-10) 10 April 1975 (age 49)
Nyeri, Kenya
Sport
SportAthletics
Medal record
Marathon
World Marathon Majors
Gold medal – first place 2001 Berlin Marathon
Bronze medal – third place 2003 London Marathon

Personal life

edit

Ngolepus comes from the same region of Kenya as Tegla Loroupe.[1] He has four children.[2]

Career

edit

Ngolepus started training in 1997 alongside Tegla Loroupe.[1] He ran his first marathon in 1999, in a time of 2:16.[1] In 2000, he came fourth at the Rotterdam Marathon in a time of 2:08:49.[1]

Ngolepus entered the 2001 Berlin Marathon as a pacemaker for fellow Kenyans Willy Cheruiyot Kipkirui and William Kiplagat. After 25 kilometres (16 mi) of the race, he decided to try and race for the victory instead.[1] He eventually won, with Cheruiyot second.[1] His finishing time was 2:08:47.[1][3]

In 2003, Ngolepus won the CPC Loop Den Haag half marathon in a time of 1:00:56. The top six finishers in the race were Kenyan.[4] Later in the year, he came third at the London Marathon, losing in a sprint by one second to Ethiopian Gezahegne Abera and Italy's Stefano Baldini.[5][6][7] The top six finished within seven seconds of each other, making it the closest finish in London Marathon history.[8] In 2004, he won the Rock 'n' Roll San Diego Marathon. The conditions were humid and windy, and Ngolepus' winning time of 2:11:04 was the slowest ever winning time at the event, and his split time for the last mile was 5:44.[2] In 2005, Ngolepus came second at the Berlin Half Marathon behind fellow Kenyan Paul Kimugul.[9]

In 2006, Ngolepus won the Madrid Marathon in a course record time of 2:11:30. The previous course record was 2:12:19, set by Tanzanian John Burra 15 years previously.[10] In 2008, Ngolepus fled Kenya during the 2007–2008 Kenyan crisis, in order to compete at the Los Angeles Marathon.[11] Later in the year, he won the Paderborn Easter Run [de] half marathon race, in 1:01:24.[12] In 2011, he was a pacemaker at the Vienna City Marathon, and dropped out of the race after 30 kilometres (19 mi). The race was won by Kenyan John Kiprotich.[13]

Marathons

edit

According to the Association of Road Racing Statisticians, Ngolepus has competed in 31 marathons.[14]

Year Race Rank Time
1999 Stockholm Marathon 6th 2:18:49
1999 Graz Marathon 3rd 2:18:43
2000 Rotterdam Marathon 4th 2:08:49
2000 Chicago Marathon 29th 2:27:29
2000 Palermo Marathon 1st 2:13:48
2001 Rotterdam Marathon DNF
2001 Berlin Marathon 1st 2:08:47
2002 Hamburg Marathon 25th 2:21:29
2002 Vienna City Marathon 4th 2:13:18
2002 Berlin Marathon 20th 2:14:36
2003 London Marathon 3rd 2:07:57 PB
2003 Chicago Marathon 12th 2:14:23
2004 London Marathon 11th 2:12:02
2004 San Diego Marathon 1st 2:11:04
2004 New York City Marathon DNF
2005 London Marathon DNF
2005 Berlin Marathon 5th 2:10:10
2005 Singapore Marathon 3rd 2:16:38
2006 Madrid Marathon 1st 2:11:30
2006 Berlin Marathon DNF
2006 Singapore Marathon 36th 2:36:03
2007 Essen Marathon 2nd 2:20:08
2008 Berlin Marathon 6th 2:12:06.7
2009 Rotterdam Marathon DNF
2009 Prague Marathon DNF
2009 Berlin Marathon DNF
2009 Frankfurt Marathon DNF
2010 Ljubljana Marathon 10th 2:17:03
2011 Prague Marathon DNF
2011 Hamburg Marathon DNF
2011 Siberian International Marathon 3rd 2:25:41

References

edit
  1. ^ a b c d e f g "Berlin-Marathon: Ein Statist als Hauptdarsteller". Der Tagesspiegel (in German). 30 September 2001. Archived from the original on 10 June 2020. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
  2. ^ a b "Ngolepus, Titova run to Rock 'n' Roll victory". The San Diego Union-Tribune. 7 June 2004. Archived from the original on 10 June 2020. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
  3. ^ Benyo, Richard; Henderson, Joe (2002). Running Encyclopedia. Human Kinetics. pp. 30–31, 405. ISBN 9780736037341.
  4. ^ "Raymaekers beste van de rest". Trouw (in Dutch). 31 March 2003. Archived from the original on 10 June 2020. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
  5. ^ "Abera snatches victory". BBC Sport. 13 April 2003. Archived from the original on 11 July 2004. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
  6. ^ "Abera sticks his nose out in photo-finish". The Guardian. 14 April 2003. Archived from the original on 10 June 2020. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
  7. ^ Bryant, John (2010). The London Marathon. Random House. p. 260. ISBN 9781446410677. Archived from the original on 10 June 2020.
  8. ^ Wirz, Jürg (2005). Paul Tergat: Running to the Limit: His Life and His Training Secrets, with Many Tips for Runners. Meyer & Meyer [de]. p. 104. ISBN 9781841261652. Archived from the original on 10 June 2020.
  9. ^ "Champs win fourth consecutive titles". ESPN. 3 April 2005. Archived from the original on 10 June 2020. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
  10. ^ "El keniano Joseph Ngolepus marca un nuevo récord en la maratón de Madrid". Las Provincias (in Spanish). 30 April 2006. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
  11. ^ "Running battle". Los Angeles Times. 1 March 2008. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
  12. ^ "Mikitenko and Arusei show fine form in the snow of Paderborn". World Athletics. 24 March 2008. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
  13. ^ "Kiprotich and Tola take surprise Vienna win, Gebrselassie cruises to 60:18". Athletics Africa. 18 April 2011. Archived from the original on 10 June 2020. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
  14. ^ Joseph Ngolepus. Association of Road Racing Statisticians. Retrieved 13 June 2020.
edit