Joyce Chepkirui (born 20 August 1988) is a Kenyan long-distance runner who competes in road running events. She established herself as a

half marathon A half marathon is a road running event of —half the distance of a marathon. It is common for a half marathon event to be held concurrently with a marathon or a 5K race, using almost the same course with a late start, an early finish or shortcut ...

runner, winning races in Granollers, Bogotá and Gothenburg. She set a best of 1:06:19 hours to win the 2014 Prague Half Marathon. She also competes in 10K road races and her personal best of 30:38 minutes makes her fifth fastest woman ever. Chepkirui began competing in cross country running in 2012 and won the Kenyan and African titles. She also competes on the track over 1500 metres and was the silver medallist at the 2011 All-Africa Games.

Career

Chepkirui grew up in the

Buret District Buret District was a former administrative district in the Rift Valley Province of Kenya. Its capital town was Litein. The district had a population of 316,882 and an area of 955 km� The district had two electoral constituencies: Konoin Constituen ...

of Kenya's

Rift Valley Province Rift Valley Province ( sw, Mkoa wa Bonde la Ufa) of Kenya, bordering Uganda, was one of Kenya's eight provinces, before the Kenyan general election, 2013. Rift Valley Province was the largest and one of the most economically important provinces i ...

. Her first international appearance came at the 2007 African Junior Athletics Championships, where she came fifth in the 1500 metres. She made her debut in the

in Benidorm that November and finished as runner-up.Joyce Chepkirui
Tilastopaja. Retrieved 3 April 2012. She tried the 3000 metres steeplechase in 2008, but managed only fifth at the national junior championships. She changed her focus to road running competitions the following year. She travelled to Spain and had top five finishes in a number of races, highlighted by a win in Almodóvar del Río with a time of 1:11:47 hours. At the end of the year she placed fourth in the 15K at Kenya's Baringo Half Marathon.

2010

Chepkirui established herself as an elite level half marathon runner in 2010. She won a series of Spanish races, taking titles in Alicante, Torrevieja, Albacete, San Sebastián and

Logroño Logroño () is the capital of the province of La Rioja, situated in northern Spain. Traversed in its northern part by the Ebro River, Logroño has historically been a place of passage, such as the Camino de Santiago. Its borders were disputed b ...

. She improved her best to 1:09:51 hours at the San Sebastián race and also won the Barcelona and Granollers Half Marathons. She was selected to represent Kenya at the 2010 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships and she ran a best of 1:09:30 hours to take fifth place and help Kenya to the team title. She closed the season with further wins in Spain, winning in Córdoba and setting another best of 1:09:25 hours at the

Valencia Half Marathon The Valencia Half Marathon ( es, Medio Maratón de Valencia) is an annual half marathon road running event held in Valencia, Spain, since 1988. It is categorized as a Gold Label Road Race by World Athletics. The race is organised by the Valen ...

. She ended the year with a win at the 15K Baringo race in Kenya.

2011

She began 2011 with a win at the

Lago Maggiore Half Marathon __NOTOC__ Lago, which means "lake" in Italian, Portuguese, Spanish and Galician, may refer to: Places *Lago, Calabria, a ''comune'' in the Province of Cosenza, Italy *Lago, Mexico, a municipality zone in the State of Mexico *Lago District, a ''dis ...

, followed by a fourth-place finish at the Prague Half Marathon. She set a personal best and course record of 1:09:04 hours to win at the Göteborgsvarvet in Sweden in May, then ran a world leading time of 30:43 minutes for the 10K in

Appingedam Appingedam (; gos, n Daam) is a city and former municipality in the northeastern Netherlands. Although there is no certainty as to the exact age of Appingedam, historical research demonstrates that the place in which the city would eventually b ...

. Taking on a shorter distance, she managed to place second in the 1500 m at the Kenyan Athletics Championships. She won the Bogotá Half Marathon by a margin of twenty seconds, over runner-up Mare Dibaba. She won the

Tilburg 10K Tilburg Ten Miles is an annual road running competition held in Tilburg, Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Nether ...

in September and her time of 30:38 minutes was the fastest in the world that year and made her the fifth quickest ever over the distance. Chepkirui was chosen to compete for Kenya in the 1500 m at the 2011 All-Africa Games and she came away with a silver medal behind her compatriot Irene Jelagat. She won the first women's half marathon title in Baringo with a course record of 1:10:57.1 minutes. The Zatopek 10 was her last outing of the year and she ran a

10,000 metres The 10,000 metres or the 10,000-metre run is a common long-distance track running event. The event is part of the athletics programme at the Olympic Games and the World Athletics Championships, and is common at championship level events. The ra ...

best and course record of 31:26.10 minutes to continue her long-distance winning streak.

2012

Chepkirui decided to compete in cross country at the start of 2012 and had immediate success, winning the Discovery Kenya Cross Country meet and the national title at the Kenyan Cross Country Championships, before going on to win the gold medal and team title at the 2012 African Cross Country Championships. On the roads, she was runner-up at

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...

's World's Best 10K, finishing behind the double reigning world champion

Vivian Cheruiyot Vivian Jepkemoi Cheruiyot (born 11 September 1983) is a Kenyan long-distance runner who specialises in track and cross country running. She represented Kenya at the Summer Olympics in 2000, 2008, 2012, and 2016, winning a silver medal at the 5 ...

, and won at the Prague Half Marathon in a course record time of 1:07:03 hours. This made her the seventh fastest woman ever in the event. She attempted a marathon debut at the 2012 London Marathon, but failed to finish the distance. Chepkirui earned a place on the Kenyan Olympic team by coming second at the 10,000 m trials in June. At the Olympic women's 10,000 metres final she failed to finish the race.

2013

Chepkirui won the World's Best 10K at the start of 2013. Her debut over the marathon distance came at the 2013 London Marathon, but she did not match her success over shorter distances and placed fifteenth overall with a time of 2:35:54 hours. A poor showing of 33:01 minutes for eighth came at the Ottawa 10K a month later, but she had a string of victories in the second half of the year, winning the

Beach to Beacon 10K The Toronto-Dominion Bank Beach to Beacon 10K is a road running event that takes place along the coastline of Cape Elizabeth, Maine. It begins at Crescent Beach State Park and ends at the Portland Head Light in Fort Williams Park. Starting out ...

Falmouth Road Race The Falmouth Road Race is an annual road running, road race on Cape Cod from Woods Hole, a village in the town of Falmouth, Massachusetts, to Falmouth Heights. The race organizer is Falmouth Road Race, Inc., a 501(c) organization#501(c)(3), 501( ...

Dam tot Damloop Dam tot Damloop (''Dam to Dam Run'' in English) is an annual road running competition held in North Holland in the Netherlands. It is a Silver Label 10-mile race from Amsterdam to Zaandam. The event was first held as a fun run event in 1985 and ...

Singelloop Utrecht The Singelloop Utrecht is an annual road running event over which takes place on the streets of city of Utrecht in the Netherlands. It is typically held in either September or October The competition, which roughly translates as the ''Utrecht Can ...

and the Grand 10 Berlin. Her run of 30:37 minutes in Berlin was a new personal best and the fastest ever on German soil for the 10K distance. A course record of 68:15 minutes at the Valencia Half Marathon followed a week later.

2014

Chepkirui improved her half marathon best at the Prague Half Marathon in April 2014, taking victory in a course record time of 1:06:19 hours. That year, she also won gold in the 10000 m at the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

2015

Chepkirui won both

New York Road Runners New York Road Runners (NYRR) is a non-profit running organization based in New York City whose mission is to help and inspire people through running. It was founded in 1958 by Ted Corbitt with 47 members and has since grown to a membership of more ...

10 km in May 2015 and

Amsterdam Marathon The Amsterdam Marathon (branded Tata Consultancy Services, TCS Amsterdam Marathon for sponsorship reasons) is an annual marathon (42.195 km) in Amsterdam in the Netherlands since 1975. The road running, road race has a IAAF Road Race Label Eve ...

in 2:24:10 in October 2015.

2016

Chepkirui finished second in the 2016 New York City Half Marathon on March 20 with a time of 1:07:41, narrowly beaten by

Molly Huddle Molly Huddle (born August 31, 1984) is an American long-distance runner who competes in track and cross country running events. Huddle set the American record in the 5000 m at the 2014 Herculis Diamond League meet in Fontvieille, Monaco (14:42. ...

at the finish line. Chepkirui finished fourth in the 2016

New York City Marathon The New York City Marathon (currently branded TCS New York City Marathon after its headline sponsor (commercial), sponsor) is an annual Marathon (sport), marathon () that courses through the five boroughs of New York City. It is the largest mar ...

in 2:29:08.

Personal bests

* 1500 metres – 4:08.80 (Nairobi, 16 JUL 2011) * 5000 metres - 15:58.31 (Marrakech, 14 SEP 2014) *

– 31:26.10 (Melbourne, 10 DEC 2011) *10K road – 30:37 (Berlin, 13 OCT 2013) *

Half marathon A half marathon is a road running event of —half the distance of a marathon. It is common for a half marathon event to be held concurrently with a marathon or a 5K race, using almost the same course with a late start, an early finish or shortcut ...

– 1:06:18 hours (Praha, 05 APR 2014 ) *25 Kilometres 1:23:27 (Amsterdam, 18 OCT 2015) *30 Kilometres 1:40:15 (Amsterdam, 18 OCT 2015) * Marathon – 2:24:11 (Amsterdam, 18 OCT 2015)

International competition record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chepkirui, Joyce Living people 1988 births People from Rift Valley Province People from Kericho County Kenyan female long-distance runners Kenyan female marathon runners Kenyan female cross country runners Kenyan female steeplechase runners Olympic athletes of Kenya Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Kenya Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics Athletes (track and field) at the 2014 Commonwealth Games African Games silver medalists for Kenya African Games medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 2011 All-Africa Games African Cross Country Championships winners Australian Athletics Championships winners African Championships in Athletics winners