Kiptum mints Ksh27m in just two hours after blistering London Marathon win

Kelvin Kiptum is the latest Kenyan millionaire after he raked in Ksh27 million following his incredible run to win the London Marathon on Sunday.

The 23-year-old had a debut to remember as he smashed the course record and nearly broke the world marathon record in the English capital after clocking 2:01:25.

It was the second-fastest ever time over the 42km race, only behind Eliud Kipchoge’s world record of 2:01:09 recorded in Berlin last year.

His time was not just the second fasted ever record in a marathon by also the fastest ever in London where no runner had done a sub-2:02.00 in the 43-year history of the grueling race, with Kipchoge holding the course record of 2:02:38, before Sunday’s race, having set it in 2019 when he won his fourth title.

That means Kiptum is in for a bumper harvest as he will be rewarded for winning the race as well as running a sub-2:02.00. Winners of the London Marathon each get $55,000 (Ksh7.3 million) but it is on records where runners make much more.

On top of the winner’s prize, any runner in the men's race who clocks a sub-2:02.00 time can get a share of $150,000 (Ksh20 million). That goes down to $100,000 (Ksh13.4 million) for under 2:03.00, $75,000 (Ksh10 million) for sub-2:04.00, and $50,000 (Ksh6.7 million) for under 2:05.

Kiptum, therefore, becomes the first man to ever claim the $150,000 (Ksh20 million) for managing the sub-2:02.00 and he will not be sharing it with anyone as second-placed Geoffrey Kamworor finished two minutes, 58 seconds later.

He will go home with the entire purse of $205,000 (Ksh27 million) for winning the race and running a sub-2:02:00 time.

It was an incredible achievement for a runner who is just getting started over the distance given London is not one of the fastest course in the major marathons.

Kiptum was on pace for a finish in the 2:03s before his late surge, having covered the second half of the race in 59:45.