Mary Jepkosgei Keitany

Medal record

Keitany next to Shalane Flanagan at the 2010 New York City Marathon
Women’s athletics
Competitor for  Kenya
World Road Running Championships
Silver 2007 Udine Half marathon
Gold 2007 Udine Team race
World Half Marathon Championships
Gold 2009 Birmingham Half marathon
Gold 2009 Birmingham Team race

Mary Jepkosgei Keitany (born January 17, 1982 in Kisok, Baringo District) is a runner from Kenya who specialises in the long distance events. She won silver at the 2007 IAAF World Road Running Championships and became the World Half Marathon champion two years later. She won the 2011 London Marathon with a personal best of 2:19:19 hours – making her the fourth fastest woman ever in the event.

Her personal best of 1:05:50 in the half marathon is the current women's world record. She also holds the world record in the women's 10 miles (50:05 minutes), 20 km (62:36), and the 25 km (1:19:53).

Contents

Career

She started running while at primary school. In 2002, she joined the Hidden Talent Academy. In January 2006 she placed 21st in her first senior race [Shoe4Africa Women's race], after some success in local races, she competed abroad for the first time, winning some road races in Europe.

She won a silver medal at the 2007 IAAF World Road Running Championships, finishing second only to Lornah Kiplagat who broke the world record. She married fellow Kenyan athlete Charles Koech in late 2007 and the couple had a son, Jared Kipchumba, in mid 2008. After her year out, she returned to competition at the World 10K Bangalore in May 2009.[1] She finished one second behind the winner Aselefech Mergia, but set a new personal best of 32:09 in the 10 km.[2] In September that year, she finished the 2009 Lille Half Marathon with 1:07:00, which was a winning mark and the seventh fastest run of all-time over the distance.[3]

Her run in Lille meant she had qualified for the 2009 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships in Birmingham. She outpaced Aberu Kebede to win her first World Championship, setting a new personal best of 1:06:36 and breaking the Championship record. She also took a second gold as part of the winning Kenyan squad in the team competition. Reflecting on the win she noted "it's my best ever time, so I'm so happy...I had a baby just 1 year and 3 months ago." Her 15KM interval time, 46:51 minutes, is better than the world record 46:55 held by Kayoko Fukushi of Japan, but will not be ratified as a world record due to low elevation of the interval related to the race start.[4] Her time was the second fastest ever in the half marathon (after Lornah Kiplagat) and the director of the New York City Marathon, Mary Wittenberg, suggested that she could become a world-beater over the full marathon distance in the coming years.[1] The half marathon time was a new African record, the previous record, 1:06:44 hours, was set by Elana Meyer of South Africa in 1999. She also beat the previous Kenyan record 1:06:48 she had set in Udine two years earlier.[5]

World records and marathon running

She won the 2010 Abu Dhabi Half Marathon.[6] She also won the 2010 Berlin 25K race, setting a new world record 1:19:53 hours. The previous record was held by Mizuki Noguchi of Japan since 2005. Her quick time left her almost five minutes ahead of the runner-up Alice Timbilili.[7] She used the Portugal Half Marathon in September as preparation for the New York City Marathon and led from the front to win the race largely uncontested in a time of 1:08:46.[8] In her debut run at the 2010 NYC Marathon she was among the leading three for much of the race but faded in the latter stages to complete the distance in 2:29:01 hours for third place.[9]

Keitany began 2011 in record-breaking form as she won the Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon with a world record time of 1:05:50. This marked the first time a woman had run the distance in under 66 minutes and she set a number of other records along the way, including a world record of 1:02:36 for 20 km and world best times for the 8 km and 10-mile markers. [10] She then won the 2011 London Marathon in a time of 2:19:17, pulling away from the field at the 14-mile mark and becoming the fourth fastest woman ever over the marathon distance.[11] She won for a second time at the Portugal Half Marathon and improved upon her own course record with a winning time of 1:07:54 hours.[12]

She is married to another runner Charles Koech and gave birth to her first child in 2008.[13] She trains at the Adidas camp in Iten, is managed by Gianni Demadonna and is coached by Gabriele Nicola.

Achievements

Year Competition Venue Distance Result
2006 Sevilla Half Marathon Seville, Spain Half marathon 1st
San Silvestre Olivais 10K Barcelona, Spain 10 km 1st
2007 Almeria Half Marathon Almeria, Spain Half marathon 1st
Vitry-sur-Seine Humarathon Paris, France Half marathon 1st
Puy-en-Velay 15k Puy-en-Velay, France 15 km 1st
Lille Half Marathon Lille, France Half marathon 1st
World Road Running Championships Udine, Italy Half marathon 2nd
2009 World Half Marathon Championships Birmingham, England Half marathon 1st
Delhi Half Marathon New Delhi, India Half marathon 1st
2011 Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon UAE Half marathon 1st (WR)
London Marathon London, UK Marathon 1st (PB)

Personal bests

Distance Time Date City
5000 m 16:29.4 June 29, 2006 Nairobi, Kenya
10,000 m 32:18.07 May 17, 2007 Utrecht, Netherlands
10 km 30:45+ February, 18, 2011 Ras Al Khaimah, UAE
15 km 46:50+ February 18, 2011 Ras Al Khaimah, UAE
20 km 1:02:36+ February 18, 2011 Ras Al Khaimah, UAE
Half marathon 1:05:50 February 18, 2011 Ras Al Khaimah, UAE
25 km 1:19:53 May 9, 2010 Berlin, Germany
Marathon 2:19:19 April 17, 2011 London, UK

References

  1. ^ a b Powell, David (2009-10-11). Marathon beckons for Keitany – World Half Marathon, Birmingham. IAAF. Retrieved on 2009-10-11.
  2. ^ Krishnan, Ram. Murali (2009-05-31). Merga and Mergia take thrilling 10km victories in Bangalore. IAAF. Retrieved on 2009-10-11.
  3. ^ Turner, Chris (2009-09-07). Keitany powers to 67mins clocking in Lille Half Marathon. IAAF. Retrieved on 2009-10-11.
  4. ^ Turner, Chris (2009-10-11). Frustration turns to delight for Keitany - WOMEN's RACE REPORT - World Half Marathon, Birmingham. IAAF. Retrieved on 2009-10-11.
  5. ^ IAAF: Top List (as of October 11, 2009)
  6. ^ IAAF, January 8, 2010: Fast wins for Keitany and Regassa in Abu Dhabi Half
  7. ^ Wenig, Jorg (2010-05-09). Kosgei, Keitany shatter 25Km World records in Berlin - Updated. IAAF. Retrieved on 2010-06-02.
  8. ^ Fernandes, António Manuel (2010-09-26). Tola and Keitany romp to Half Marathon victories in Lisbon. IAAF. Retrieved on 2010-09-27.
  9. ^ Dunaway, James (2010-11-07). Gebremariam and Kiplagat cruise to New York victories. IAAF. Retrieved on 2010-11-07.
  10. ^ Hutchings, Tim (2011-02-18). Keitany smashes Half Marathon World record in Ras Al Khaimah - UPDATED. IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-02-18.
  11. ^ Brown, Matthew (2011-04-17). Mutai and Keitany dominate and dazzle in London. IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-04-24.
  12. ^ Fernandes, Antonio Manuel (2011-09-25). Keitany smashes race record in Lisbon. IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-09-30.
  13. ^ IAAF, October 11, 2009: Marathon beckons for Keitany – World Half Marathon, Birmingham

External links