Boston Marathon elite runner Elkanah Kibet balances running career with military career
For the majority of the elite runners taking part in Monday’s Boston Marathon, they’re in town on a business trip. This is one of their biggest events of the year, and their main focus for the last few months leading up to Monday has been on this race.
However, things are slightly different for Elkanah Kibet. Although he is an elite sponsored runner who has finished top 10 in multiple Major marathons, represented Team USA, and contended for the U.S. Olympic team, running isn’t his main occupation. Instead, that’s his role as a captain in the U.S. Army.
Ahead of this year’s Boston Marathon, Kibet spoke with 98.5 The Sports Hub about how he manages a competitive running career while also keeping up with his military duties.
Kibet, 40, began his professional running career as a member of the U.S. Army World Class Athlete Program (WCAP). The program “allows top-ranked Soldier-athletes to perform at the international level while also serving their nation in the military,” and includes athletes from multiple Olympic sports including boxing, wrestling, rugby, and track & field.

EUGENE, OREGON – JULY 17: Elkanah Kibet of Team United States competes in the Men’s Marathon on day three of the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 at Hayward Field on July 17, 2022 in Eugene, Oregon. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
“Right now I work full time as a soldier. So last year I deployed, and then we came back September last year. I work full time as a soldier, like regular solider,” Kibet shared.
He’s since left the program, and does his training alongside his military work. “I still get time in the morning to train,” he said. “And then after that I go to work and after work in the evening – so I work from nine in the morning to five in the evening, and then after that I go for my second run and then I go home. And that’s what I do very much everyday.
Born in Kenya, Kibet began running when he had to travel two and a half miles to and from school, according to his New York Road Runners bio. In 2006 he came to the United States on a running scholarship, initially attending Rend Lake Community College in Illinois before transferring to Auburn in 2008. Despite being an All-American for the Tigers as an indoor and outdoor runner, Kibet though his competitive running days were over when he joined the Army.
“I enlisted in the military in 2012. So I thought I would never have time to run again,” recalls Kibet, who became a U.S. citizen in 2013. “But when I went there, I was running and – they gave us to run two miles. And I was running really faster than everyone. I was running about nine minutes for two miles and they told me, ‘oh, you need to join the Army program called All Army Sports.'”
“Then when I went back to my unit in 2013, I got there, they were getting ready to deploy to go to Kuwait and Iraq. So we went. And then when I came back, they told me there’s an Army program and I started training for that,” Kibet continued. “In 2016 I went to Colorado and joined the program for 2016, and then 2017, 2018 I had to go back to school for officer school. I came back for a year and then I left.”
By nature of training in a U.S. military program, Kibet’s preparation for the Boston Marathon – or any marathon – is different than his competitors. “The training regimen is different for the people in the program because their job more is training and rest. But for me training and work.” he explained. Even the nature of simply attending races is different – Kibet takes leave whenever he travels to compete.
As much intense focus as it takes to be a world-class athlete, Kibet is also just as determined about his military work. He’s currently stationed at Fort Carson in Colorado, where he works as a finance officer in operations.
Elkanah Kibet World Athletics Profile
“For me, just getting the opportunity to train was great enough. But also I have to be careful and make sure I still keep my career military career,” Kibet said. “So that’s why I keep running and making sure that also I take care of my career so I can progress like the regular soldiers.”
Still, the balance can’t be easy. After finishing in fourth place in the 2021 New York City Marathon in 2021, Kibet had to withdraw from the 2022 event when his unit was deployed to Poland. He returned last year, and placed 11th.
Last time Kibet ran the Boston Marathon was in 2022. He set a personal best time of 2:09:07, and placed ninth overall. He’s coming off of a fourth-place finish at the Team USA Olympic Trials in February, when he ran a 2:10:02 time. That gives him a chance to be selected as an alternate for this year’s games in Paris.

BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – APRIL 18: Elkanah Kibet of the United States crosses the finish line in the professional men’s division during the 126th Boston Marathon on April 18, 2022 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
Kibet has long-term aspirations for his military career. too. “My goal is to – next year, I will be 12 years in service. So my goal is to be 20 years in the Army and retire,” he shared.
“I just told myself this morning, ‘every time I wake up, it’s. It’s a new day now,’ you know? I’m looking into the future with a lot of happiness and I take pride with my mentors,” he continued. “Like when I went to the Army, like the people who got me the first time I went to the my first duty station. North Carolina was my first duty station and my squad leader that I had really put a new culture in me, and also the good organization culture that we had in our unit, and it made me love my job and love what I am doing, and that’s why – When you do 20 [years], you retire, it’s something you can be proud of the rest of your life. And that’s what I want to do and accomplish.”
As he crosses what he expects to be the halfway point of his military career, Kibet truly seems to be enjoying the balance of Army life and competitive running.
“I’m happy. You know when you’re doing something and you’re happy you’re doing it? It makes things easy. So that’s what drives me and motivates me to keep doing good.”
Read more…