Hundreds of mourners in Kenya, on Thursday, accompanied the coffin of world champion long-distance runner Kelvin Kitum, when it was being carried to his village where he will be buried.
While singing religious songs and holding hands, the mourners followed the motorcade that carried the casket from the mortuary in Eldoret, heading to his village in Chepsamo.
24-year-old Kiptum died in a road accident with his coach Gervais Hakizimana earlier this month, after his car lost direction and hit a tree. Kiptum had run the marathon three times, all of which were among the 7 fastest times ever recorded in history.
Last October, Kiptum set a record at the Chicago marathon after running in 2 hours and 35 seconds, thus surpassing Eliud Kipchoge’s 2 hours and 1.09 minutes.
Kiptum was hoping to break the record of running under 2 hours at the Rotterdam long race in April, where he was also expected to compete in the Olympics later this year in Paris. If he had participated, he would have found himself competing with fellow champion Eliud Kipchoge.
