Benson Masya

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Benson Masya (born May 14, 1970 , † September 24, 2003 ) was a Kenyan long-distance runner who was particularly successful in the half marathon .

Life

The former boxer and employee of the Kenyan Post is the record winner of the Great North Run over the 21.097 km distance. For the first time he won the race in 1991 in 1:01:28 h. In the following year, the premiere of the half marathon world championships took place as part of this run, and Masya won the title in 1:00:24 h. He won for the third time in 1994 in his personal best of 1:00:02 h (a course record that lasted until 2002) and for the fourth and last time in 1996. He also won the 1992 Gold Coast Marathon half marathon in 1992 and 1994 at the Falmouth Road Race , 1993 and 1994 at the CPC Loop Den Haag and 1995 at the Great South Run .

Even if he never reached a time in a marathon that would have matched his potential (in 1994 he came 17th in the Boston Marathon in 2:12:35 h, in 1996 he was eighth in the London Marathon in 2:12:43 h and in 1997 at the Seoul International Marathon in 2:12:53 h, fifth), he also celebrated several triumphs on the long distance. He won the Honolulu Marathon three times (1991, 1992 and 1994) and once the Stockholm Marathon (1997).

In 2000 he was struck by a serious illness. After an apparent improvement he competed again on the night of Borgholzhausen in 2003 . Soon afterwards he died in the presence of his friend and colleague Cosmas Ndeti and was buried in Kitui . Even though the cause of his death has not been officially established, his agent Zane Branson assumes that it was due to the aftermath of an HIV infection. Benson Masya left a wife and three children.

Web links

Footnotes

  1. ^ Haller Kreisblatt : The favorites of the 28th »night« . June 14, 2003
  2. ↑ The Honolulu Advertiser: 3-time marathon champion dead at 33 . September 30, 2003
  3. ↑ icNewcastle: Void left as GNR legend Masya dies at just 33 . October 9, 2003
  4. ↑ Honolulu Marathon website: 2006 Hall of Fame Inductee Benson Masya, 3-time winner
personal data
SURNAME Masya, Benson
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Kenyan long distance runner
DATE OF BIRTH May 14, 1970
DATE OF DEATH September 24, 2003