Virginia 10 Miler Champion Kibet Competing in Marathon World Championships

(Portland, Oregon) – – US Army’s 1st Lieutenant Elkanah Kibet and winner of the 2021 and 2011 Virginia 10 Miler is representing the USA again in the World Championship Marathon in Portland, Oregon. The event will be televised on CNBC from 9 to 1130 am on Sunday July 17th.

Elkanah, originally from Kamariny Kenya, came to the US and competed first for Rend Lake College (Illinois) before transferring to and competing for and graduating from Auburn University. He then gained US citizenship before enlisting in the Army. Later, he completed Officer Candidate School which resulted in his commissioning. Sunday, will be his third time representing the US at the World Championships. He finished 16th in London (2017) and 38th in Doha, Qatar (2019).

Now 39 years old, Elkanah has enjoyed a much longer competitive running career than most. Following his victory in Lynchburg last fall, he placed 4th in the NYC marathon in a then PR of 2:11:15 and followed that up with a 9th place finish in 2:09:07.

Elkanah has raced the Virginia 10 Miler five times. In addition to his wins 10 years apart, he was runnerup in 2010 and 2015. In keeping with the 10 Miler motto of “where southern hospitality meets the road,” he has been hosted by the Perrotto family on each of his trips here.

Fun fact: Elkanah is a huge college football fan, with Auburn as his favorite. So if you see him walking around the EC Glass grounds after this year’s Virginia 10 Miler, feel free to ask him any college football questions you have.