 Patrick Makau setting the previous World Record at the Berlin Marathon 2011 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | (1985-03-02)2 March 1985 (age 40) Tala, Machakos, Kenya | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Country |  Kenya | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Club | Kenya national athletics team | ||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Patrick Makau Musyoki (born 2 March 1985) is a runner fromKenya. He is a former world record holder in themarathon—His time of 2:03:38, run at the 2011Berlin Marathon, was the world record for two years, until it was beaten byWilson Kipsang Kiprotich at the2013 Berlin Marathon.[1] He is also notable for hishalf marathon performances, having won a number of prominent competitions in Europe in sub-1-hour performances.
Makau attended Unyuani School until 1999, after which he joined Kyeni Academy, Misiani. He started running in 2001.[2] He competed at the2006 IAAF World Road Running Championships and finished in 26th place.
He finished second at the 2007Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon by running 59:13 minutes, being beaten only bySamuel Wanjiru who set the world record (58:53) at the same race.[2] He won silver at the2007 IAAF World Road Running Championships and2008 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships. He was also part of the Kenyan team that won the team race both times.[2]
He won at theCity-Pier-City Loop in 2008. Makau won the 2009 Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon setting the second best ever half marathon time 58:52. The world record at the time, 58:33, was held by Samuel Wanjiru.[3] He made his marathon debut at the 2009Rotterdam Marathon, finishing fourth and setting a fast time (2:06:14 hours),[4] short of the fastest marathon debut, set byEvans Rutto at the 2003Chicago Marathon (2:05:50 hours).[5]
Makau returned to the Hague for the City-Pier-City Loop in 2010 and won for a second time, clocking another sub-one hour time of 59:52.[6] After this he significantly improved his marathon best to 2:04:48 to win the Rotterdam Marathon, becoming the fourth fastest runner over the history of the distance.[7] He opted to stay away from the circuit and focus himself entirely on preparations for theBerlin Marathon.[8] A rematch with Rotterdam runner-upGeoffrey Mutai saw the two take the same positions again. Rain dampened the prospect of a record but Makau out-sprinted Mutai at the finish to clock 2:05:08 and win his firstWorld Marathon Major.[9] In recognition of his performances that year, he was selected as theAIMS World Athlete of the Year in a poll of race organisers.[10]
Makau ran in the2011 London Marathon and, in spite of a fall at the halfway point, he continued and was narrowly beaten into third at the line byMartin Lel, finishing with a time of 2:05:45.[11]
At theBerlin Marathon on 25 September 2011, Makau was set to duel againstHaile Gebrselassie, the world record holder fromEthiopia. The Kenyan dropped his more experienced rival after the halfway point and went on to finish in a world record time of 2:03:38 (an average pace of 4:42.9 per mile), beating the existing record by 21 seconds.[12] Prior to the race, he stated that he wanted to bring themarathon world record back to Kenya, following on from a former record holderPaul Tergat.[13] Speaking after the race, Makau said "In the morning my body was not good but after I started the race, it started reacting very well. I started thinking about the record"[13] and "At 32 km I thought I could win the race and even break the world record. It was hard [over] the last 10 kilometres".[14]His world record performance remained for 2 years before falling to fellow Kenyan,Wilson Kipsang Kiprotich, at the 2013 Berlin Marathon, when the record was lowered another 15 seconds to the time of 2:03:23.[15]
He was the pre-race favourite for theGranollers Half Marathon in February, but lost in a sprint finish toCarles Castillejo under cold weather conditions.[16] He ran at the2012 London Marathon but dropped out mid-race due to injury and was not selected for the Olympic team.[17] He entered theGreat Manchester Run in May and came fifth in a time of 28:21 minutes.[18]In theFrankfurt Marathon in October, despite feeling uncomfortable and running most of the time at the back of the leading group, Makau managed to take back the lead fromDeressa Chimsa and holding on for the victory, with a time of 2:06:08.[19]
Makau raced in the 2013 London Marathon. He showed to be in poor form, having been outside the lead pack already by the first time point at 5 km, falling farther and farther behind with every time point until 40 km. By halfway, he was nearly 3 minutes behind the leaders, but he slowed further and eventually finished the race in 2:14:10, outside the top 10, more than 8 minutes back from the winner, and more than 10 minutes back from his own world record.
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| Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Representing Kenya | ||||
| 2005 | Zanzibar Half Marathon | Zanzibar City | 1st | 1:04:12 |
| 2006 | Bristol Half Marathon | Bristol, United Kingdom | 1st | 1:03:38 |
| Tarsus International Half Marathon | Tarsus, Mersin | 1st | 1:02:42 | |
| 2007 | Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon | Ras al-Khaimah | 2nd | 59:13 |
| Rotterdam Half Marathon | Rotterdam, Netherlands | 2nd | 59:19 | |
| Udine Half Marathon | Udine, Italy | 2nd | 59:02 | |
| Berlin Half Marathon | Berlin, Germany | 1st | 58:56 | |
| 2008 | Reading Half Marathon | Reading, United Kingdom | 1st | 1:01:19 |
| Berlin Half Marathon | Berlin, Germany | 1st | 1:00:00 | |
| CPC Loop Den Haag | The Hague, Netherlands | 1st | 1:00:08 | |
| Rotterdam Half Marathon | Rotterdam, Netherlands | 1st | 59:29 | |
| Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon | Ras al-Khaimah | 1st | 59:35 | |
| 2009 | Rotterdam Marathon | Rotterdam, Netherlands | 4th | 2:06:14 |
| Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon | Ras al-Khaimah | 1st | 58:52 | |
| 2010 | CPC Loop Den Haag | The Hague, Netherlands | 1st | 59:52 |
| Rotterdam Marathon | Rotterdam, Netherlands | 1st | 2:04:48 | |
| Berlin Marathon | Berlin, Germany | 1st | 2:05:08 | |
| 2011 | London Marathon | London, United Kingdom | 3rd | 2:05:45 |
| Berlin Marathon | Berlin, Germany | 1st | 2:03:38 WR | |
| 2012 | Granollers Half Marathon | Catalonia, Spain | 2nd | 1:02:40 |
| Frankfurt Marathon | Frankfurt, Germany | 1st | 2:06:08 | |
| 2013 | London Marathon | London, United Kingdom | 11th | 2:14:10 |
| 2014 | Fukuoka Marathon | Fukuoka, Japan | 1st | 2:08:22 |
| 2015 | Fukuoka Marathon | Fukuoka, Japan | 1st | 2:08:18 |
| 2016 | Fukuoka Marathon | Fukuoka, Japan | 2nd | 2:08:57 |
| Surface | Event | Time (h:m:s) | Venue | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Track | 3000 m | 7:54.50 | Pliezhausen, Germany | 13 May 2007 |
| Road | ||||
| 10 km | 27:27 | Berlin, Germany | 1 April 2007 | |
| 15 km | 41:30 | Ras Al Khaimah, UAE | 20 February 2009 | |
| 20 km | 56:13 | Udine, Italy | 14 October 2007 | |
| Half marathon | 58:52 | Ras Al Khaimah, UAE | 20 February 2009 | |
| 25 km | 1:13:18 | Berlin, Germany | 25 September 2011 | |
| 30 km | 1:27:38 | Berlin, Germany | 25 September 2011 | |
| Marathon | 2:03:38 | Berlin, Germany | 25 September 2011 |
| Records | ||
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| Preceded by | Men's Marathon World Record Holder 25 September 2011 – 29 September 2013 | Succeeded by |
| Sporting positions | ||
| Preceded by | Men's Half Marathon Best Year Performance 2009 | Succeeded by |
