Caroline Jepchirchir Chepkwony (born 27 April 1985) 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 endurance, stamina as well as mental strength. Within e ...

who competes in

road running Road running is the sport of running on a measured course over an established road. This differs from track and field on a regular track and cross country running over natural terrain. These events are usually classified as long-distance ac ...

competitions. She started her career as a track runner and she was the runner-up at the

African Junior Athletics Championships The African Junior Athletics Championships is a biennial continental athletics event for junior athletes from African nations. Organized by the Confederation of African Athletics and first held in 1994, only athletes aged 19 or under are allowed t ...

in 2001 and won the

800 metres The 800 metres, or meters ( US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of an outdoor (400-metre) track and has been an Olympic event since the ...

bronze medal at the

2004 African Championships in Athletics The 14th African Championships in Athletics were held in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo in July, 2004. Since African Championships is a biennial event, this edition was contested only a month before 2004 Summer Olympics. Thus some top athletes sh ...

. She represented Kenya at the

2006 Commonwealth Games The 2006 Commonwealth Games, officially the XVIII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Melbourne 2006 (Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm 2006'' or ''Naarm 2006''), was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth held ...

and the

2007 All-Africa Games The 9th All-Africa Games took place between 11 and 23 July 2007 in Algiers, the capital city of Algeria. Algiers is the first city to hold All-Africa Games for a second time. The 1978 All-Africa Games were held there. Besides Algeria, only Nige ...

. From 2007 onwards she focused more on German and French road races. She is a two-time winner of the

Hamburg Half Marathon The Hamburg Half Marathon is an annual road running event held in Hamburg, Germany. It is currently sponsored by . History The race was first run in 1995 in Hamburg Stadtpark and was named the Hamburg-Mannheimer Cup. In 2003, the course was cha ...

and was the 2012 winner of the

BIG 25 Berlin The BIG 25 Berlin (german: 25 km von Berlin) is an annual road running competition over 25 kilometres that takes place in Berlin, Germany in early May. The competition was created in 1981 by the French Forces in Berlin stationed in West Berl ...

. She has a 10K best of 32:32, 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 shortcu ...

best of 1:08:36 and a

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , 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 are also wheelchair div ...

best of 2:30:34.

Career

Born in Kapsigoria Village in Kenya's

Elgeyo Marakwet county Elgeyo-Marakwet County is one of Kenya's 47 counties. Elgeyo Marakwet County is located in the former Rift Valley Province. Its capital and largest town is Iten. It borders the counties of West Pokot to the north, Baringo County to the east, ...

, Chepkwony's first success came at the

2001 African Junior Athletics Championships The 2001 African Junior Athletics Championships was the fifth edition of the biennial, continental athletics tournament for African athletes aged 19 years or younger. It was held in Réduit, Mauritius, from 9–12 July. A total of 41 events were ...

, where she was the silver medallist 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 stan ...

behind

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 ...

. In 2004, she was second in the

at both the

Kenyan Athletics Championships The Kenyan Athletics Championships is an annual track and field meeting which serves as Kenya's national championships for the sport. Athletics Kenya, the country's governing body for athletics organises the event. The championships is usually hel ...

and the Olympic trial race. She did not have the qualifying time to attend the

2004 Athens Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

, but was selected for the

and won the bronze medal at that competition. She won her first national title in 2005 and set an 800 m best of 2:03.6, but again did not have the standard for the major championship (the 2005 World Championships). She competed at the

but did not make it past the first round. It was that year that she first began to compete in European road races and she won the Spiridon Silvesterlauf,

Basler Stadtlauf Basler may refer to: * an inhabitant or native of canton of Basel-Stadt, or canton of Basel-Landschaft, or Basel, Switzerland * Basler (fashion), German fashion brand * Basler (weapon), the German term for the ''baselard'' dagger * Basler Electri ...

Course de l'Escalade Course may refer to: Directions or navigation * Course (navigation), the path of travel * Course (orienteering), a series of control points visited by orienteers during a competition, marked with red/white flags in the terrain, and corresponding ...

Course du Noël Course may refer to: Directions or navigation * Course (navigation), the path of travel * Course (orienteering), a series of control points visited by orienteers during a competition, marked with red/white flags in the terrain, and corresponding ...

and set a course record at

La Corrida Bulloise LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note * "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figure ...

.Course de l'Escalade
ARRS. Retrieved on 2013-10-26. She continued to mix road races and track running in 2007 and ran for Kenya in both the 800 m and the

1500 metres The 1500 metres or 1,500-metre run (typically pronounced 'fifteen-hundred metres') is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athletic ...

at the

.Caroline Chepkwony
Tilastopaja. Retrieved on 2013-10-26. Berlin marathon 2012 am kleistpark between kilometers 21 and 22 30

Chepkwony missed the 2008 season but successfully returned in 2009 with a focus on road events, winning the Course de l'Escalade for a second time and taking the

title with a time of 1:15:22 for her debut over the distance. She competed in smaller scale events in 2010 but was rewarded with numerous victories, including the

Lotto Cross Cup Brussels The Lotto Cross Cup Brussels, also known as the IRIS Lotto Cross Cup, is an annual cross country running competition that takes place in mid-December in Brussels, Belgium. It is part of the Lotto Cross Cup series of races and is classed as an IAAF ...

, the Kö-Lauf and Alsterlauf Hamburg

10K run 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1 ...

s, half marathons in Hamburg and

Altötting Altötting (, Bavarian: ; ''Oidäding'') is a town in Bavaria, capital of the district Altötting of Germany. For 500 years it has been the scene of religious pilgrimages by Catholics in honor of Mary, including a visit by Pope John Paul II i ...

, and the Zürcher Silvesterlauf. In 2011, she retained her titles in Brussels, Hamburg and

Zürich Zürich () is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. As of January 2020, the municipality has 43 ...

, as well winning the Course du Noël for a second time. In addition, she won the Murtenlauf and Kerzerslauf races for the first time. The 2012 saw Chepkwony begin to participate in higher standard road competitions. She ran a personal best of 68:36 minutes for third place at the

Berlin Half Marathon The Berlin Half Marathon is a major endurance event held annually in early spring in Berlin, Germany. Besides the runner's main race, the event includes a race for inline skaters, wheelchair athletes and handbikers. All athletes use the same co ...

, then won the

race. This earned her a place in the elite selection for the

2012 Berlin Marathon The 2012 Berlin Marathon was the 39th edition of the annual marathon event and was held on Sunday 30 September on the streets of Berlin, Germany. An IAAF Gold Label Road Race, it was the third World Marathon Majors event to be held that year. Geoff ...

and in her first attempt at the classic distance she managed to finish in 2:30:34 hours, coming in seventh place. Aside from her exploits in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

she repeated her win at the Kerzerslauf (setting a course record), won the

Grand Prix von Bern Grand may refer to: People with the name * Grand (surname) * Grand L. Bush (born 1955), American actor * Grand Mixer DXT, American turntablist * Grand Puba (born 1966), American rapper Places * Grand, Oklahoma * Grand, Vosges, village and commun ...

10-miler, and had another win at the Course du Noël. She made three half marathon outings in 2013 and finished in the top three each time, coming third at the

Paris Half Marathon Paris Half Marathon (''French: Semi-marathon de Paris''), known as the Harmonie Mutuelle Semi de Paris for sponsorship reasons, is an annual half marathon held every March in Paris, France since 1993. Kenya's Stanley Biwott is the men's cours ...

and runner-up at the

Göteborgsvarvet Göteborgsvarvet () is an annual half marathon running competition in Gothenburg, Sweden (often called the Gothenburg Half Marathon in English). It is the largest annual running competition in the world in terms of entries, with its 62,000 ent ...

and

Ústí nad Labem Half Marathon The Ústí nad Labem Half Marathon is an annual half marathon race which takes place in September in Ústí nad Labem, Czech Republic. Known as the ''Mattoni Ústí Half Marathon'', it is a part of RunCzech running circuit. The course winds throug ...

. The

Ljubljana Marathon The Ljubljana Marathon ( sl, Ljubljanski maraton) is a marathon organised in Ljubljana by the City Municipality of Ljubljana (MOL). It has been taking place since 1996 and attracts several thousand people each year. History The marathon was ...

saw her make her best ever run for the distance, as she won the race in a time of 2:27:27.Chepkwony beats the breeze in Ljubljana
IAAF (2013-10-27). Retrieved on 2013-10-28.

Competition record

Notes

* The official IAAF birth date for Chepkwony is 27 April 1985. Other sources list her date of birth as 18 April 1984.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chepkwony, Caroline Jepchirchir 1985 births Living people Kenyan female long-distance runners Kenyan female marathon runners Kenyan female steeplechase runners People from Elgeyo-Marakwet County Athletes (track and field) at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games competitors for Kenya Athletes (track and field) at the 2007 All-Africa Games African Games competitors for Kenya