Wesley Kiptoo

WESLEY’S STORY
A native of Marakwet, Kenya, Wesley developed his talent for running at Transcend Academy–a school founded and run by Boston Marathon Champion, Wesley Korir. Korir, a mentor to him to this day, helped Wesley find a new home in the United States where he moved in 2018 to attend Colby Community College. It was there that he met his now wife, Maribel. The couple has two children–Natalia and Santos.

PRO STATS
Wesley joined HOKA NAZ Elite in the spring of 2022 and got off to a great start by winning the Pittsburgh Half Marathon in May in 1:01:25. He would go on to run a number of summer road races, getting valuable experience for the future. In the fall he finished third at the prestigious Manchester Road Race and sixth at the Fitness Bank Cross Champs. He kicked off 2023 in a big way with a second-place finish at the Aramco Houston Half Marathon in 1:00:35, a new PB and team record. He followed that up with two races on the track; a 13:22.52 indoors over 5,000 meters in January and a 27:45.81 for 10,000 meters in March. In may he defended his title at the Pittsburgh Half Marathon and set another course record–1:01:21. He then finished 5th at the BOLDERBoulder 10k on Memorial Day.

Wesley kicked off his fall 2023 season with a huge win at the Falmouth Road Race–running 31:08 for the 7.1 mile route to tie the longstanding course record. In October he made his marathon debut at the Bank of America Chicago Marathon where he finished 12th in 2:10:28. He finished the year by finishing third at the Cross Champs in Austin, helping HOKA NAZ Elite to the team title. In January of 2024 he was the runner-up for the second year in a row at the Aramco Houston Half Marathon. After a couple of track races in February and March he returned to the roads in April, winning the Cherry Blossom 10 Mile in a very fast 45:53. He followed that up with his third straight victory at the Pittsburgh Half Marathon, running 1:01:31. His summer racing schedule included a runner-up finish at the Boston 10k, a third-place effort at the Boilermaker 15k and a dominating win at the Bix 7. That led into a fall that saw him win the Philadelphia Distance Run in September in 1:01:21.

NCAA STATS
Wesley began his collegiate career at Colby Community College where he was an NJCAA National Champion in cross country and the indoor 5,000 meter run. He moved on to NCAA Division I Powerhouse Iowa State University in 2020 and saw immediate success–eventually becoming a seven-time NCAA Division I All American in cross country and track and field, a seven-time Big 12 Champion, and the National Champion in the Indoor 5,000 meter run in 2021. As of 2022, he held Iowa State records in the indoor 3,000 and 5,000 meter runs as well as the outdoor 10,000 meters and the steeplechase.