Education
He ran in the junior race at the 2004 IAAF World Cross Country Championships and finished in seventh place, forming part of the winning Kenyan junior team
He ran in the junior race at the 2004 IAAF World Cross Country Championships and finished in seventh place, forming part of the winning Kenyan junior team
Rutto initially began his career in athletics as a steeplechaser. Rutto demonstrated his ability further with another record run of 5:27.64 in the event two months later in Liège. He defeated Musa American Obaid with a sprint to the line to continue Kenya"s undefeated streak in the competition.
He returned to the Oeiras meet in 2006 but managed only eighth place.
He continued running in the steeplechase, and also in the 3000 metres flat, over the next four years but he saw little improvement upon the times set during his junior career. His senior career had effectively stalled.
After missing the 2009 season, he re-emerged as a road running athlete and made his marathon debut in October 2010 at the Frankfurt Marathon. The change of event proved a good one, as he finished in seventh place in a time of 2:09:17, just ahead of Elijah Keitany who was runner-up at the Amsterdam Marathon the previous year.
He failed a drugs test for erythropoietin (EPO) in 2012 and was banned for two years.