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Philemon Kimeli Limo (born 2 August 1985) is a Kenyan professional long-distance runner who competes in cross country running and road running competitions. He has a half marathon best of 59:30 minutes and a marathon best of 2:09:25 hours. He typically competes on the Italian road circuit and has won the Roma-Ostia and Prague Half Marathons.
Hailing from Marakwet District, Kenya, he began to make his mark domestically in 2009 as he was the runner-up at the high level Rift Valley Province Cross Country Championships.[1] In his European debut in March 2010, he came third at the Stramilano Half Marathon, completing the distance in a time of 1:01:34 hours to finish behind Moses Mosop and Silas Kipruto.[2] He was the pacemaker for the 2010 European Cup 10000m and went on to record a 5000 metres personal best of 13:18.97 minutes at the Memorial Primo Nebiolo later that June.[3] He won a 10 km race in Rennes,[4] recording a time which ranked him in the top ten for the distance that year.[5] He defeated all comers in the Marseille-Cassis Classique in October that year.[6]
Representing Kenya Police, he gained his first national selection in 2011 with a fourth-place finish at the Kenyan National Cross Country Championships.[7] On his international debut at the 2011 IAAF World Cross Country Championships in March, he took seventh place in the men's senior race – the fifth Kenyan to cross the line.[8] He proved himself on the roads a month later at the Prague Half Marathon as he won the race with a sub-one hour timing, setting the fastest time ever on Czech soil with his finishing time of 59:30 minutes.[9] A runner-up finish at the Giro Media Blenio came four weeks later.[10] He won the men's title at the World 10K Bangalore in June, where he finished in 28:01 minutes,[11] and set a course record and personal best of 27:34 min to win the Prague Metro 10K.[12] He returned to the Marseille-Cassis race to defend his title, but was beaten into third place.[13] He came fifth behind Sammy Kitwara at the Delhi Half Marathon in November and started his cross country season with a win at the Venta de Baños Cross a month after.[14][15]
He was within two seconds of his best at the Roma-Ostia Half Marathon and won by a twenty-second margin.[16] returned to defend his title at the Prague Half Marathon in 2012, but finished third in a time of 60:03 minutes.[17] Limo made his marathon debut at the Prague International Marathon in May and recorded a time of 2:09:25 hours for third, although he slowed significantly in the final stages.[18] In 2013 he managed only tenth at the Prague Half Marathon,[19] but won the Ústí nad Labem Half Marathon.[20]
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