Career
His personal best time, as of April 2008, is 2:05:15, which he ran in the 2008 London Marathon setting a course record. Lel is coached by Claudio Berardelli and lives in the Rift Valley region of Kenya. Lel ran his first marathons in 2002: he failed to finish at the Prague Marathon, but in his first finish he managed to claim second in the Venice Marathon.
He made his Olympic debut for Kenya at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and came fifth in the marathon.
In August 2010 he ran at the Falmouth Road Race and took third place. After almost 3 years without running a marathon, he participated in the 2011 London Marathon as a replacement for Samuel Wanjiru, who was originally invited to run, but he still placed second with a time of 2:05:45, out-sprinting Patrick Makau at the finish line.
He ran the 15K Saint Silvester Road Race at the end of the year, but was beaten into fourth place. Lel entered two races the year after: he was runner-up again at the 2012 London Marathon (finishing in 2:06:51) and was victorious at the Portugal Half Marathon with a time of 61:28 minutes.
In 2011 the American Charity, Shoe4Africa, funded and opened the Shoe4Africa Martin Lel school in Lel"s home village, Kimn"geru, to honor the athlete.