Patrick Makau, also known as Patrick Musyoki, was born on 2 March 1985 in Eastern Province, Kenya.
The region that Patrick grew up in is well established as a training ground for Kenyan athletes such as the former Bank of America Chicago Marathon champion, Patrick Ivuti. The 2005 Rotterdam champion, Jimmy Muindi, also grew up in the region and incidentally was responsible for 'discovering' Patrick's talent in 2004 during a school running competition.
Patrick, through the recognition of his fellow country men's achievements, identified long distance running as the most viable means of escaping poverty and building a future for himself and his family,
"I've seen how success has helped (their) families. I used to hear (their) names on the radio and read about them in the newspapers - wanted to be like them".
Patrick's admiration for his fellow professional Kenyan runners is epitomized by his ambition of matching the success of Paul Tergat; and the pair now regularly train together on the Ngong Hills bordering Nairobi.
Patrick Makau's professional career begun in earnest in July 2005 when he claimed victory in a 25 km event in Tanzania. Ongoing success at the national level led to his first European race the following year. Another major claim to victory was the Vattenfall Beflin Half Marathon in both 2007 and 2008.
2010 was a defining year for Makau whose achievements included a time of 59:52, during the City-Pier-City Loop marathon. His victories during the year culminated in the recognition of his performance, when he won the highly coveted AIMS World Athlete of the Year award.
Makau is already regarded as one of the most consistent marathoners in the world; He set the current world record in 2011 at the Berlin Marathon, where he clocked a time of 2:03:38
Other major achievements include his status as the third-fastest half marathoner ever; this was achieved through delivering a time of 58:52, during the Ras AI Khaimah (United Arab Emirates) event in 2009.
