Legendary Kenyan distance runner Paul Tergat will be running alongside participants at the fourth WHO Walk the Talk on Sunday, 21 May 2023 in Geneva, Switzerland.
Paul Tergat
Paul joins people from around the world who will be putting on their running shoes, pacing around the ‘city of peace’ to raise awareness about WHO’s work to deliver quality health for all and to celebrate the importance of partnership during WHO's 75th anniversary.
“I’m very happy to be joining WHO’s Walk the Talk event on 21 May, and to be building on the solid foundation and great work of my good friend and all-time great Ethiopian runner Haile Gebrselassie, who also took part in this great celebration of public health in 2018,” said Paul. “I look forward to joining this latest edition with another Ethiopian champion, Derartu Tulu, and running with sports lovers in Geneva to show how exercise is a great way to promote physical and mental health.”
One of the most acclaimed long-distance runners of all time, Paul set the then-record marathon time of 2:04:55 in 2003, becoming the first Kenyan man to do so. He also accrued five straight gold medals between 1995 and 1999 at the World Cross Country Championships and won two more in 1999 and 2000 at the World Half Marathon Championships.
Although he hung up his spikes in 2009, Paul has continued to have a positive impact in the realm of sports. He founded the Paul Tergat Foundation in 2005, with the mission of using athletics and education to transform the lives of disadvantaged children and youth in Kenya. Paul has also served on the board of the Olympic Refugee Foundation since 2021.
Be sure to join Paul and others at Walk the Talk by registering here.