Sammy Kitwara

Sammy Kirop Kitwara (born 26 November 1986 in Sagat, Marakwet District) is a Kenyan long-distance runner who specialises in road running events. He is coached by Moses Kiptanui.

He went to Embomir Primary School and Kerio Valley Secondary school, from which he graduated in 2004. He did not take up running until 2007, later quoting "I saw I was not making any progress in life and my family needed assistance". Kitwara won four national cross-country circuit competitions in 2008, but failed at the trials for the cross-country world championships. In 2008 he took to the European road running circuit and won at the 20 Kilomètres de Paris, Dam tot Damloop and Singelloop Utrecht races.

Kitwara, a policeman by occupation, won the 2009 Rotterdam Half Marathon in a time of 58:58 – a course record which made him only the sixth runner to complete a sub-59-minute run. Earlier in the year Kitwara won another major half marathon, the City-Pier-City half marathon in The Hague, beating Haile Gebrselassie into second place, as well as winning at the Peachtree Road Race. He set a new course record of 27:25.6 at the World's Best 10K in February that year. Kitwara won the 10,000 m race at the Kenyan Trials in June 2009, earning a place in the national team for the 2009 World Championships in Berlin. However, he was subsequently removed from the team by Athletics Kenya for participating in road races after the Trials. He did, however compete at the 2009 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships in Birmingham, finishing 10th.

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