Evans Chebet: Double Boston Marathon champion and successful farmer - What you need to know
The Kenyan, who defended his Boston Marathon title, has never raced on the track and only began running as a teenager in 2006. Find out why he could be one of the stars to watch at Paris 2024.
Evans Chebet had a breakthrough year in 2022, but 2023 could define what has been a long and relentless marathon career.
Unlike most distance runners who switch to the marathon at the tail end of their career, the repeat Boston Marathon champion hit the road running.
He ran under the radar for nearly a decade before claiming a podium in Berlin in 2016 and then an impressive victory at the 2020 Valencia marathon in 2 hours and 3 minutes, then the third-fastest time in history.
Here are a few things you need to know about the self-effacing Kenyan who won his third successive World Marathon Major on Monday (17 April) in Boston.
Evans Chebet aimed straight for the road
When Evans Chebet decided to pursue athletics like most teenagers in his rural village of Kondabilet, in Kenya’s Elgeyo Marakwet county, he chose a different approach. Rather than training on tracks, he started running on roads in 2006.
In 2011, he participated in his first international race - a 10-miler (15km) in Gargano, Italy - where he finished second. He then transitioned to marathons, finishing sixth in a race in Seoul two years later, which marked the beginning of his marathon career.
Impressively, Chebet finished in the top six in ten races before winning the 2019 Buenos Aires Marathon.
Evans Chebet clocked third-fastest time history in first his major win
At his first World Marathon Major Series race in Berlin in 2016, Chebet finished on the podium behind two long-distance heavyweights: Kenenisa Bekele, whose winning time of 2:03:03 was the second-fastest time in history, and a former world record holder, Wilson Kipsang.
Four years later, he finally achieved victory in dominant fashion, leading a Kenyan sweep of the podium positions with his course record of 2:03:00. This win marked Chebet's breakthrough into the marathon spotlight.
The 2023 Boston Marathon was Evans Chebet’s third attempt
Evans Chebet knows well the Boston Marathon course, which is mainly downhill with dramatic turns
At his first attempt in 2018 he struggled to cope with the infamous Heartbreak Hill and torrential rain. As a result, he withdrew from the race and watched Japan's Yuki Kawauchi claim the title among the spectators.
Chebet left the race a broken man, but after four years of polishing his high-altitude training at the 2 Runners Club in Kapsabet with his long-term Italian coach Claudio Berardelli, he was ready to face his fears.
In 2022 he led a Kenyan podium sweep, beating the 2019 winner Lawrence Cherono and upstaging the defending champion Benson Kipruto, who is also his training partner. He then successfully defended his title, beating a stacked field, including double Olympic champion Eliud Kipchoge, in rainy conditions.
Chebet's back-to-back victories made him the first man to achieve this feat since his compatriot Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot won three in a row from 2006 to 2008.
Evans Chebet is a successful farmer and businessman
The double Boston marathon champion is not only flourishing in marathon running. He is also a successful large-scale farmer. He grows maize and wheat, and also breeds cows.
“I like to be on the farm - it is good for me as a person and especially to think about the future. I can’t just sit and I know that one day, being an athlete will come to an end because of whatever reason. My wife is also working on the farm, so the both of us are farmers,” he said in an interview with Runners World.
In addition to his passion for farming, the eighth-fastest marathoner ever also owns houses in Kenya, which he rents.
Evans Chebet turned to New York after missing out on the Worlds
After winning Boston, Chebet’s greatest desire was to finally don his national team kit. But the Kenyan selectors overlooked him when they picked the team for the 2022 World Athletics Championships for Eugene.
That influenced his decision to enter the New York Marathon in the autumn of 2022.
“Of course, not everyone follows the same path. Until recently or even now to be honest, my name doesn’t mean a lot to many people. I have had to work really hard to be where I am, proving doubters wrong at every turn I make. I think there’s no shame in taking a delayed route to greatness,” he said in an interview with Kenya’s People Daily after winning New York.
“I am not a big name so I will not bulldoze myself to the team, but now I feel on merit I should be considered for the next year’s (2023) World Championships and maybe the 2024 Paris Olympic Games,” he added.