Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot
KENYA
BIRTHDATE:
September 26, 1978
PERSONAL BEST:
2:07:14 (Boston, 2006)
WORLD MARATHON MAJOR HIGHLIGHTS:
01Nov09 ING New York City Marathon 2nd 2:09:56
22Aug09 IAAF World Championships, Berlin 5th 2:10:46
20Apr09 Boston Marathon DNF
21Apr08 Boston Marathon 1st 2:07:46
07Oct07 The LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon 4th 2:16:13
16Apr07 Boston Marathon 1st 2:14:13
22Oct06 The LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon 1st 2:07:35
17Apr06 Boston Marathon 1st 2:07:14
06Nov05 ING New York City Marathon 4th 2:11:01
18Apr05 Boston Marathon 5th 2:14:30
10Oct04 The LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon 12th 2:14:23
19Apr04 Boston Marathon DNF
21Apr03 Boston Marathon 1st 2:10:11
ADDITIONAL CAREER HIGHLIGHTS:
30Nov03 Milan City Marathon 3rd 2:11:07
01Dec02 Milan City Marathon 1st 2:08:59
CAREER NOTES:
Robert K. Cheruiyot will forever be known as the first male champion of the World Marathon Majors series. His three wins and a fourth place for the 2006-07 competition gave him a commanding victory over the competition.
Cheruiyot first became an international caliber athlete in 2002 with a series of impressive races including a win at the Milano City Marathon in 2:08:59. The following year Cheruiyot placed third at the Lisbon Half Marathon in 1:00:24 and had a major victory at the Boston Marathon in 2:10:11.
In 2004 Cheruiyot placed third at the Lisbon Half Marathon in 59:54 and he also ran the fastest non point-to-point half marathon time of 2004 with a winning performance of 1:00:11 at the Rotterdam Half Marathon in September. His success at the half marathon continued in 2005 when he trailed only Paul Tergat at Lisbon in 59:21, a time only seven men in history had beaten.
Cheruiyot finished second at the 2006 Lisbon Half Marathon in a fast time of 59:35. He then won his second Boston Marathon with a course record time of 2:07:14 and followed with a victory at the LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon in October, making him the first man to win both Boston and Chicago in the same year.
In 2007, confronted by arguably the worst weather in the history of the Boston Marathon, Cheruiyot prevailed in 2:14:13, making him only the eighth man with three or more victories there. The weather at Chicago in October was perhaps even more wretched than Boston but with a WMM series championships in hand, Cheruiyot placed a safe fourth.
Cheruiyot made more history at the 2008 Boston Marathon when he became the youngest man to win his fourth title. Going at course record pace for most of the day he won by a huge margin of 78 seconds in 2:07:46.
After dropping out of the 2009 Boston Marathon, Cheruiyot ran strongly through the first half of the World Championships in Berlin. Despite struggling through the final stages of the race, Cheruiyot perserved to place fifth in 2:10:47. With one of the other Kenyans dropping out and another not starting, this was crucial in Kenya triumphing in the World Cup competition, beating their arch-rival Ethiopians.
He made a quick turn around to compete in the 2009 ING New York City Marathon and ran to a second place finish behind Meb Keflezighi who pulled alway from Cheruiyto in the final two miles.
PERSONAL NOTES:
At six-feet, two inches tall and 143 pounds, Cheruiyot is not the typical runner and stands out when running with his teammates. He trains in the Ngong Hills near Nairobi with his teammates from Dr. Gabriele Rosa’s training camp including former Marathon World Record holder Paul Tergat who is a frequent training partner. (He should also not be confused with a different Robert Cheruiyot, four years older, who has a 2:08:13 PR.) When not training, Cheruiyot spends time farming. He is married and has a daughter who he says is "the love of my life."
