Sharon Jemutai Cherop (born 16 March 1984) is a Kenyan

long-distance runner Long-distance running, or endurance running, is a form of continuous running over distances of at least . Physiologically, it is largely Aerobic exercise, aerobic in nature and requires stamina as well as mental strength. Within endurance ru ...

who specialises in the

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of kilometres ( 26 mi 385 yd), usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There ...

. She won a

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receives ...

at the age of sixteen in the

5000 metres The 5000 metres or 5000-metre run is a common long-distance running event in track and field, approximately equivalent to or . It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics, run over laps of a sta ...

at the World Junior Championships. She was the bronze medal winner in the marathon at the

2011 World Championships in Athletics The 13th IAAF World Championships in Athletics () was an international athletics competition that was held in Daegu, South Korea. It started on 27 August 2011 and finished on 4 September 2011. The United States topped the medal standings in the ...

and won the

Boston Marathon The Boston Marathon is an annual marathon race hosted by eight cities and towns in greater Boston in eastern Massachusetts, United States. It is traditionally held on Patriots' Day, the third Monday of April. Begun in 1897, the event was ins ...

in 2012. After her junior medals, it was not until 2010 that she enjoyed senior level success. She made her marathon debut at the

Twin Cities Marathon The Twin Cities Marathon is a marathon in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul area which normally takes place the first weekend in October. The race is often called "The Most Beautiful Urban Marathon in America" due to a course that winds through down ...

(coming third) and won her first marathons in 2010, first at the

Hamburg Marathon The Hamburg Marathon () is an annual marathon race over the classic distance of held in Hamburg, Germany. In 2009, 13,938 participants were counted. The marathon is categorized as a IAAF Road Race Label Events, Gold Label Road Race by World A ...

and then at the

Toronto Waterfront Marathon The Toronto Waterfront Marathon is a road-running race held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, every year in the second or third Sunday of October. Aside from the actual marathon, the race also includes a half-marathon. The Toronto Waterfront Marathon ...

, which she won in 2:22:42 for the fastest marathon time on Canadian soil. Her personal best of 2:22:39 was set at the 2012

Dubai Marathon The Dubai Marathon is an annual road-based marathon hosted by the emirate of Dubai, United Arab Emirates, since 1998. The marathon is categorized as a Gold Label Road Race by World Athletics. History Initial era The inaugural Dubai Marat ...

Career

Early competition

Cherop grew up in a family of cattle-raisers in the

Marakwet District Marakwet District is a defunct administrative district in the former Rift Valley Province of Kenya. Its capital town was Kapsowar. The district had a population of 140, 629 people in the 1999 Census. Local people are predominantly of the Marakwet ...

of Kenya. She and all three of her siblings took up athletics at a young age. She ran for her school, Tirap Primary School, and began competing at province level at age 13. She was inspired by

Catherine Ndereba Catherine Nyambura Ndereba (born 21 July 1972) is a retired Kenyan marathon runner. Between 2003 and 2008, she finished in the top two in five successive global championship marathons. Ndereba has twice won the marathon at the World Championshi ...

, who lived locally, and

Evans Rutto Evans Rutto (born 8 April 1978 in Marakwet District) is a Kenyan long-distance runner, who specialises in road running events. He made the fastest-ever marathon debut by winning the 2003 Chicago Marathon in a time of 2:05:50. He won the London Ma ...

(another local marathoner) promised to help her if she performed well.Komen, Jonathan (14 August 2011)
Cherop Leads Nation's Charge for Marathon Crown
''Daily Nation'' (Kenya). Retrieved on 27 November 2011. Cherop's first major competition was the

1999 All-Africa Games The 7th All-Africa Games (; ), also known as Johannesburg 1999 (), was a sport event held from 10 to 19 September 1999, in Greater Johannesburg, South Africa. 53 countries participated in eighteen sports. Netball was included as a demonstrati ...

at the age of 15, but she did not make the podium, coming in fourth place. She was the

list over

at the

2000 World Junior Championships in Athletics The 2000 World Junior Championships in Athletics were held in Santiago, Chile between 17 and 22 October 2000. Results Men Women Medal table Participation According to an unofficial count through an unofficial result list, 1122 athle ...

, finishing behind Dorcus Inzikuru and

Meseret Defar Meseret Defar Tola (Amharic: መሠረት ደፋር; born 19 November 1983) is an Ethiopian long-distance runner who competes chiefly in the 3,000 metres and 5,000 metres events. She has won medals at top-tier international competitions includ ...

. She started training with Sing'ore Girls, under running coach Boniface Tiren, and worked alongside other promising young runners, including future world champions Janeth Jepkosgei and

Vivian Cheruiyot Vivian Jepkemoi Cheruiyot (born 11 September 1983) is a Kenyan Long-distance running, long-distance runner. She represented Kenya at the Athletics at the Summer Olympics, Summer Olympics in 2000, 2008, 2012, and 2016, winning the silver medal i ...

. A knee injury cut short her running season in 2001. At the Discovery Kenya Great Rift Cross Country in January 2002 she took third place in the senior race behind race winner Joan Jepkorir Aiyabei. She also had national success on the track, winning the 5000 m at the 2004

Athletics Kenya Athletics Kenya (AK) is the governing body for the sport of athletics (track and field) in Kenya. It is a member of World Athletics and Confederation of African Athletics. AK organises athletics competitions held in Kenya. It also sends Kenyan tea ...

meet. At the Kenya Police Cross Country Championships in January 2005 she took third place in the 8 km race behind Olympic medallist Isabella Ochichi and Cross Country medallist Jane Gakunyi. She entered the

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 shortcu ...

section of the

Nairobi Marathon The Nairobi Marathon is an annual road running competition over the marathon distance usually held in October in Nairobi, Kenya. First held in 2003, the competition expanded and now includes a half marathon race along with the main race. It was ...

in October 2005 and she was runner-up behind Lineth Chepkirui. She returned to the

cross country running Cross country running is a sport in which teams and individuals run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain such as dirt or grass. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and soil, earth, pass through woodlands and ope ...

circuit a month later and was third at one of the AK meetings. She took part in the inaugural Shoe4Africa Women's 10km race in

Iten Iten is a town in Elgeyo-Marakwet County in the Republic of Kenya and serves as the capital and is the largest town in the county. International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) awarded the town with a plaque recognising Iten as a Wo ...

and ran a personal best of 36:02 to take second behind

Doris Changeywo Doris Chepkwemoi Changeywo (born 12 December 1984) is a Kenyan professional long-distance runner who specialises in the 10,000 metres and cross country running. She began to enjoy success in athletics in 2006, becoming the East African c ...

. The 21-year-old Cherop had begun training with a prominent group of road athletes, including

Chicago Marathon The Chicago Marathon is a road marathon held in October in Chicago, Illinois. It is one of the seven World Marathon Majors. Thus, it is also a World Athletics Label Road Race. The Chicago Marathon is one of the largest races by number of fini ...

winner

and

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

champion

Lameck Aguta Lameck Aguta Orero (born October 10, 1971) is a former Kenyan marathon runner. He was the winner of the 101st Boston Marathon in 1997 with a time of 2:10:34 hours. He also competed in the men's marathon at the 1996 Summer Olympics. Biography Agu ...

. She began focusing more on road competitions and was third at the

Tegla Loroupe Peace Race The Tegla Loroupe Peace Race is an annual 10-kilometre road running event which takes place in November in Kapenguria, West Pokot County, Kenya. First held in 2003, the race was created by Kenyan runner Tegla Loroupe to bring together warriors of ...

at the end of the year. She was fifth at the 15th Discovery Kenya Cross Country Championships in January 2007.

Marathon debut

Cherop made her debut on the American road running circuit later that year, starting with a win at the News and Sentinel Half Marathon in a time of 1:12:26, and then a fourth-place finish in a personal best of 1:10:21 at the Philadelphia Distance Run. In October she made her

debut at the

in Minneapolis-Saint Paul. She led alongside Svetlana Ponomarenko for most of the race but she was overhauled by the Russian and Alena Vinitskaya in the final mile, having to settle for third place with a time of 2:38:45. She took on the classic distance for a second time in April 2008 at the Country Music Marathon in

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

, where Ponomarenko again took top honours while Cherop (15 years her junior) finished in fourth place. At the Azalea Trail Run in May she set a 10K best of 32:43 for fourth place. Her first marathon of 2009 came at the

and she knocked several minutes off her personal best with a run of 2:33:53 for third place. In the women's 15 km race at the

Baringo Half Marathon The Baringo Half Marathon is an annual road running competition for men and women over the half marathon distance which takes place every December in Baringo, Kenya. The programme previously had a 15 kilometres race for women, but this was extend ...

in December 2009 she engaged in a race-long battle for the lead against Agnes Kiprop, although she faded in the final stages and was runner-up in 52:01 minutes. The following year she entered the

and ran a solo effort to win the race and a significant personal best of 2:28:38 – over five minutes quicker than her previous time. "It was hard running alone for so long, but I concentrated well", she said of her first major win in Europe. This mark did not stand for long as she improved again at the

in September 2010, where she fell over mid-race but recovered to hold off Tirfi Tsegaye to win the race in a time of 2:22:42 – the fastest ever run in Canada, beating Romania's

Lidia Șimon Lidia Slăvuțeanu-Șimon (born 4 September 1973) is a Romanian long-distance runner. She competed in the Olympic marathon five times (1996–2012), winning a silver medal at the 2000 Olympics. She is also a former marathon world champion. Care ...

's all-comers record set at the 2001 World Championships in Edmonton. A third-place finish at the

2011 Boston Marathon The 2011 Boston Marathon took place on Monday, April 18, 2011, as the 115th official running of the Boston Marathon. On October 18, 2010, the 20,000 spots reserved for qualifiers were filled in a record-setting eight hours and three minutes. Geof ...

brought Cherop a place on the national marathon team. She went on to take the

in the marathon at the

– her first international senior medal. Her placing also formed a Kenyan podium sweep with

Edna Kiplagat Edna Ngeringwony Kiplagat (born 15 November 1979) is a Kenyan professional long-distance runner. She was the 2011 and 2013 World Champion in the marathon. She established herself as an elite marathon runner with wins at the Los Angeles and Ne ...

and Priscah Jeptoo, which was a first for a world-level marathon competition.Johnson, Len (27 August 2011)
Women's Marathon – Kiplagat leads historical sweep for Kenya
. IAAF. Retrieved on 27 August 2011. In November she set a personal best at the

Delhi Half Marathon Delhi Half Marathon, currently branded as the Vedanta Delhi Half Marathon for sponsorship reasons, is an annual half marathon foot-race held in New Delhi, India. Established in 2005, it is both an elite runner and mass participation event. It is ...

, coming second behind Lucy Wangui in a time of 1:07:08 hours. She won the 2012 Kenyan Armed Forces Cross Country in January, holding off a challenge from

Hellen Obiri Hellen Onsando Obiri (born 13 December 1989) is a Kenyan middle- and long-distance runner. She is the only woman to have won world titles in indoor track, outdoor track and cross country. Obiri is a two-time Olympic 5,000 metres silver med ...

. This served as preparation for the

later that month and in a quick race she finished seventh but knocked three seconds off her best with a run of 2:22:39 hours. Three months later she ran at the

2012 Boston Marathon The 2012 Boston Marathon took place in Boston, Massachusetts on Monday April 16, 2012. It was the 116th edition of the mass-participation marathon. Organized by the Boston Athletic Association, it was the first of the World Marathon Majors series ...

and defeated Jemima Sumgong in a sprint finish to win the race a time of 2:31:50 hours (slowed by warm temperatures). In spite of this, she was not selected for the Kenyan Olympic marathon team that year. She tried for a spot in the 10,000 m, but came ninth at the national championships. She ran a 10 km best of 32:03 minutes for third at the

BAA 10K The B.A.A. 10K is an annual road running event for men and women over that takes place in June in Boston in the United States. A total of 3040 people finished the race at the inaugural edition. The B.A.A. 10K is one of two major annual races tha ...

then went on to take wins at the Philadelphia Half Marathon and Turin Marathon.Biwott and Cherop dominate at Philadelphia Half Marathon
IAAF (16 September 2012). Retrieved on 22 January 2013.

Achievements

*All results regarding marathon, unless stated otherwise

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cherop, Sharon 1984 births Living people Athletes from Elgeyo-Marakwet County Kenyan female long-distance runners Kenyan female marathon runners World Athletics Championships medalists Boston Marathon female winners Kenyan female cross country runners Athletes (track and field) at the 1999 All-Africa Games African Games athletes for Kenya 20th-century Kenyan sportswomen 21st-century Kenyan sportswomen