Pan Am runner Kip Kangogo to race Montreal half-marathon

Story by Paul Gains

Kip Kangogo will open his 2016 racing season at the prestigious Banque Scotia 21K de Montréal on April 24. The Kenyan-born distance runner has become one of this country’s best and is running in Montreal to test his fitness ahead of a spring marathon.

>> Kip Kangogo represents Canada for the first time at the Pan Am Games

He’s the reigning Canadian Half-Marathon champion having won the title at the 2015 Scotiabank Calgary Half-Marathon where he beat Canadian Olympian Reid Coolsaet. Now Kangogo is looking forward to lining up in Montréal’s Parc Jean Drapeau.

“I think my training is coming along nicely but you cannot say until you get in a competitive race,” says the 36 year old runner. “But it’s coming along.”

His best time for the half-marathon distance is 1:03:22 from the 2011 Scotiabank Vancouver Half Marathon.

For the past two years, Kangogo has been coached by Rick Mannen, who has been responsible for Krista DuChene’s success. (DuChene is expected to represent Canada in the Rio Olympics marathon.) A year ago Kangogo improved his marathon personal best time to 2:15:26 at the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon and so he has nothing but good things to say about his coach.

“He is always studying you, he wants to know how you are feeling, how the body is responding,” says Kangogo. “You will always get that feedback and then you will receive training according to how it fits you. It has always been a good relationship with him and I like it.”

At the moment, Kangogo runs around 200 kilometres a week– sometimes running as much as 240. To do that, he’s often running at 5:30 a.m. as he takes care of his kids while his wife, Florida, studies at the University of Lethbridge.

Last summer Kangogo proudly represented Canada at the Pan American Games in Toronto finishing ninth in the oppressive heat.

As he prepares for the Banque Scotia 21K de Montréal he doesn’t know who else is in the field. The overriding goal will be to race to his full potential and if fast times and podium finishes are the result, then so be it. Leading the pack of podium contenders is Toronto’s Sami Jibril who notably chased Eric Gillis around this course in 2014 to claim the Canadian championship silver medal.