David Kemboi Kiyeng

[1] Working with top Italian distance running coach, Claudio Berardelli, he improved his best in his second outing at the Italian Marathon and defeated David Makori in a sprint finish to the line to win his first race.

[5] He stayed on in France to attempt a defence of his title in Reims and he did so, gaining a new personal best of 2:07:53 in the process.

[6] Undeterred by the level of competition from the previous year, he entered the 2009 Paris Marathon.

His finishing time of 2:06:26 would have been enough to win in 2008, but it brought him third place on this occasion as Vincent Kipruto Limo and Bazu Worku both moved into the top-20 fastest ever for the marathon.

He returned to defend his title at the JoongAng Seoul Marathon but was beaten by James Kwambai, although his time of 2:09:21 hours was his best outing of the year.