Steadfast Athlete and international marathon runner Stephen Kosgei never stays still. The long-distance runner has participated in numerous international races, seeing victories and setbacks. He travels to numerous countries and brings laurels for himself and his country. Stephen competes in road-running competitions, including the 10K run to the marathon. His personal bests are: the 10K rung in 27:52 minutes (2010), a half marathon in 58:54 minutes (2012), which ranks him in the top 10 international athletes for the distance; and a full marathon in 2:08:05 hrs (2012).
Stephen started training for runs and marathons after school but initially could not get serious because of other responsibilities in the village. The village lacked training facilities, which also acted as a hurdle.
His first European races came in 2009 with a third place finish at the Roma-Ostia Half Marathon followed by another third place but improved timing at the Nice Half Marathon. He was undefeated in the half marathons in 2011, taking victories in the Paris and Udine championships.
Stephen’s breakthrough came at the 2012 CPC (City-Pier-City) Loup Den Haag, an annual half marathon held in the Hague, Netherlands. He ran his best of 58:54 minutes to win the race ahead of pre-race favourite Jonathan Maiyo. This result placed Stephen as the second fastest half marathoner in the world that year.
Stephen ventured into India and Nepal in 2019 for marathons, winning a gold at the Nainital Half Marathon 2019, gold at the Chennai Marathon 2020, gold at the Hyderabad Marathon 202, gold at the Nepal Pokhara Marathon 2022 and one at the Safal Pokhara International Marathon (Nepal) 2023. Closer home, he won a bronze at the Banjul Marathon (Gambia) 2022 and gold at the Porto marathon (Brazil) 2022.
His success mantra is: ‘determination yields the best results’. Stephen has proved his mettle for the sport with back-to-back marathon wins in the last couple of years.
The talented runner became a part of Steadfast family in 2020.
He relies on two supplements for his energy, endurance and stamina - Snergy and Carborance by Steadfast Nutrition. Stephen says the supplements have made him stay on his toes and boosted his energy levels for any run or event. His favourite protein from the recovery range is Power Protein.
“Steadfast products are of good quality and help me up my game. My go-to protein from the Steadfast range is Power Protein- it has been my partner through all my preps and races.”
Stephen, a vegetarian athlete, is conscious of the diet he takes.
Stephen is coached by the renowned Kenyan running coach and retired steeplechase runner Patrick Sang, who also coaches the world’s fastest marathon runner, Eliud Kipchoge. Stephen is not far behind and is considered to be the next Kipchoge.
The Steadfast Athlete, who has regularly worked on his runs and timings, is set to participate in the Tokyo Marathon, among the toughest marathons in the world. He wishes to break marathon records by the time he is 40, and all that he is doing right now is to raise the bar higher for himself and other athletes. The current marathon record holder is a Kenyan athlete, Eliud Kipchoge, who is 51.
Although one may feel that he is always on the move and busy in runs, but when he does stand still and takes time out from his athlete schedule, Stephen loves reading books- sports novels in particular.