Paul Tergat

PAUL TERGAT
KENYA

BIRTHDATE:
17 June 1969

PERSONAL BEST:
2:04:55 (Berlin, 2003) World Record

WORLD MARATHON MAJOR HIGHLIGHTS:

22Apr06 Flora London Marathon 6th 2:08:06
05Nov06 ING New York City Marathon, 3rd 2:10:10
06Nov05 ING New York City Marathon 1st 2:09:30
17Apr05 Flora London Marathon 8th 2:11:38
29Aug04 Olympic Marathon, Athens 10th 2:14:45
28Sep03 real-, Berlin Marathon 1st 2:04:55 (WR)
13Apr03 Flora London Marathon 4th 2:07:59
14Apr02 Flora London Marathon 2nd 2:05:48
13Oct02 The LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon 4th 2:06:18
07Oct01 The LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon 2nd 2:08:56
22Apr01 Flora London Marathon 2nd 2:08:15

CAREER NOTES:

Paul Tergat was—with the single exception of his friend Haile Gebrselassie—the most dominant distance runner of the mid- to late-1990s. But his many victories and records on the track (10,000m world record), in the half-marathon (two world championships/world record) and, in particular, cross country (five consecutive world championships) did not immediately translate to victories and records in the marathon.

It wasn’t until his sixth career marathon start that he tasted victory, and a sparkling world record by 43 seconds. He suffered through his two worst marathon starts at the 2004 Olympic Games and the 2005 Flora London Marathon, but rebounded to give a performance for the ages at the ING New York City Marathon 2005, winning the race over defending champion Hendrick Ramaala in the race’s final stride. He finished a solid third there in 2006. At the 2007 Flora London Marathon he wound up sixth with the fifth fastest time of his career.

PERSONAL NOTES:

In addition to his accomplishments in athletics, Tergat is well known as a statesman and an advocate for helping people in his native Kenya. In early 2004 Tergat was named a “goodwill ambassador” in the United Nations’ World Food Program, which provides food to developing nations and in disaster-relief situations. As one of 17 children growing up on the drought-ridden shores of Lake Baringo in Kenya’s Rift Valley, Tergat regularly went hungry until the WFP implemented its free daily lunch program in his district in 1977.

Tergat, who trains with Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot, lives with his wife Monica and their three children in N’gong, a village outside Nairobi.