The Running World was met with tragedy on Sunday, February 11th. Kenyan long-distance runner and heralded superstar talent Kelvin Kiptum died in a car crash with his coach Gervais Hakizimana. Kiptum was the world record-holder in the marathon, running under two hours and one minute in Chicago last year. This unprecedented achievement caused even more shockwaves in the running world because of his meteoric rise. Kiptum only ran three marathons in his short-lived career but was able to win all of them in unparalleled fashion. His 2022 Valencia Marathon was the fastest-ever debut in the event, winning with a time of two hours, one minute, and 53 seconds. It was expected that he could even break his Chicago record during the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics, where he would have gone head-to-head against all-time great marathoner and fellow countryman Eilud Kipchoge. 

Overall, Kiptum’s death is one to prove the lack of information humans have about what their future might look like. At the age of 24, Kiptum had the whole world ahead of him, both in his career and his condition. If nothing else can be learned from this tragedy, we must realize as a society the importance of taking advantage of every minute of every day. 

“To give anything less than your best, is to sacrifice the gift” -Steve Prefontaine