Paul Kibii Tergat - World 10K Inagural run & fun

These pictures of the great marathon runner were taken in Bangalore during the inaugural Sunfeast World 10k marathon in Bangalore in 2008. Paul was a nice gentleman and this was evident while he interacted with all and sundry during his five day stay in the silicon city.

Paul Kibii Tergat is regarded by many as one of the most astounding long distance runners of the last decade, along with his Ethiopian rival Haile Gebrselassie. World Marathon record holder Paul Tergat was born on 17 June 1969 in Kabarnet, Barango, Kenya. Before becoming an athlete Tergat used to be a basketball player and in 1992 his exceptional career began when he won the Kenyan Cross Country Championships title. However he had to miss the World Championships through injury.

Paul Kibii Tergat, addresses the media (left), as he tries his hands with a archers bow an arrow (top and left below).

Tergat has since won a record five consecutive IAAF World Cross Country titles from 1995 to 1999. On the track, Tergat won two World Championships (1997 and 1999) and two Olympic (1996 and 2000) silver medals at 10,000m on each occasion beaten by Haile Gebrselassie. Now concentrating on the marathon, Tergat is an accomplished track, cross country, and road runner. Tergat achieved one of his most wonderful victory on November 6, 2005, when he won his New York City Marathon debut in a thrilling sprint finish through Central Park, prevailing over defending champion Hendrick Ramaala 2h09'29",90 to 2h09'30",22.

Indian Hockey Player Dhanraj Pillai, Kenyan marathon runner Paul Kibii Tergat and actor Rahul Bose prepare Pasta at the Pasta party on the eve of Sunfeast World 10K Marathon in Bangalore on Saturday 17th May 2008 (top), as Paul Kibili Tergat, Anil Singh of Procom International and Ravi Naware at the Sunfeast Charity night of the World 10K Bangalore Marathon on Friday night (left).

Tergat also won two consecutive editions of the IAAF World Half Marathon Championships in 1999 and 2000. In September 2003, he ran a superb 2:04:55 to break the Marathon World record in Berlin. At the Athens Olympic Games, he made his first Olympic appearance at the marathon and finished tenth.

Paul Kibii Tergat during the marathon (circled in red) he pulled out after had a cramp (left).

Paul Tergat has been married to Monica for 13 years and has three children. He has been a goodwill ambassador for the World Food Programme of the United Nations : in January 2004 Tergat was named a UN World Food Programme (WFP) "Ambassador against hunger". When he was a child, Paul Tergat’s family was too impoverished to send him to school with food. Were it not for the World Food Program, which provided food at his school, he would never have gotten a full education.Tergat is also a member of the IAAF Athletes’ Commission.