Joseph Ngolepus


Joseph Ngolepus 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 half marathon race.

Personal life

Ngolepus comes from the same region of Kenya as Tegla Loroupe. Ngolepus has four children.

Career

Ngolepus started training in 1997 alongside Tegla Loroupe. He ran his first marathon in 1999, in a time of 2:16. In 2000, Ngolepus came fourth at the Rotterdam Marathon in a time of 2:08:49.
Ngolepus entered the 2001 Berlin Marathon as a pacemaker for fellow Kenyans Willy Cheruiyot Kipkirui and William Kiplagat. After of the race, Ngolepus decided to try and race for the victory instead. Ngolepus eventually won, with Cheruiyot second. His finishing time was 2:08:47.
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. 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. The top six finished within seven seconds of each other, making it the closest finish in London Marathon history. In 2004, Ngolepus 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. In 2005, Ngolepus came second at the Berlin Half Marathon behind fellow Kenyan Paul Kimugul.
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. In 2008, Ngolepus fled Kenya during the 2007–2008 Kenyan crisis, in order to compete at the Los Angeles Marathon. Later in the year, he won the half marathon race, in 1:01:24. In 2011, he was a pacemaker at the Vienna City Marathon, and dropped out of the race after. The race was won by Kenyan John Kiprotich.

Marathons

According to the Association of Road Racing Statisticians, Ngolepus has competed in 31 marathons.
YearRaceRankTime
1999Stockholm Marathon6th2:18:49
1999Graz Marathon3rd2:18:43
2000Rotterdam Marathon4th2:08:49
2000Chicago Marathon29th2:27:29
2000Palermo Marathon1st2:13:48
2001Rotterdam Marathon—
2001Berlin Marathon1st2:08:47
2002Hamburg Marathon25th2:21:29
2002Vienna City Marathon4th2:13:18
2002Berlin Marathon20th2:14:36
2003London Marathon3rd2:07:57
2003Chicago Marathon12th2:14:23
2004London Marathon11th2:12:02
2004San Diego Marathon1st2:11:04
2004New York City Marathon—
2005London Marathon—
2005Berlin Marathon5th2:10:10
2005Singapore Marathon3rd2:16:38
2006Madrid Marathon1st2:11:30
2006Berlin Marathon—
2006Singapore Marathon36th2:36:03
2007Essen Marathon2nd2:20:08
2008Berlin Marathon6th2:12:06.7
2009Rotterdam Marathon—
2009Prague Marathon—
2009Berlin Marathon—
2009Frankfurt Marathon—
2010Ljubljana Marathon10th2:17:03
2011Prague Marathon—
2011Hamburg Marathon—
2011Siberian International Marathon3rd2:25:41