He was on the four-man shortlist for the 2012 Athlete of the year award by local body Uganda Athletics Federation (UAF). But he shunned the awards’ gala on Friday and headed to India for the 10th edition of the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon.
The decision was right. While he finished fourth in the race for the award, Jackson Kiprop had much more to celebrate as he crossed the tape first on Sunday.
He comfortably finished, setting a new course record of 2:09:32 — a good 22 seconds inside the course record of 2:09:54. This was Kiprop’s maiden visit to Mumbai and his first full marathon.
Thanks to some chilly weather earlier on, that second-placed Ethiopian Jacob Cheshari also finished inside the previous course record, clocking 2:09:43.
In third place was Elijah Kemboi (2:10:03), who hails from the traditional powerhouse of long distance running, Kenya.
Kiprop revealed how he was training in Eldoret, Kenya with London Olympics gold medalist Stephen Kiprotich prior to the race.
He had started as a pace maker but ended up taking the prize money of US dollars 350,000.
Just like him, Valentine Kipketer of Kenya also set a new course record enroute winning the women’s title.