Caroline Cheptanui Kilel (born 21 March 1981) is a Kenyan long-distance runner who specializes 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 ...

competitions. She was the winner at the 2011 Boston Marathon and the

Frankfurt Marathon The Frankfurt Marathon (official name as of 2016: Mainova Frankfurt Marathon, until 2015: BMW Frankfurt Marathon, until 2010: Commerzbank Frankfurt Marathon) is a marathon which has taken place every year in Frankfurt am Main since its inception i ...

in 2010 and 2013. Kilel took the silver medal in the marathon at the 2014 Commonwealth Games. She has also won marathons in

Ljubljana Ljubljana (also known by other historical names) is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative center. During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the are ...

Taipei Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the ...

Nairobi Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city proper h ...

and Palermo. Her personal best for the distance is 2:22:34 set in

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...

in 2013, and her best in 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 shortcut ...

is 1:08:16.

Career

At the 2003 World Cross Country Championships she finished eighth in the long race, while the Kenyan team, of which Kilel was a part, won the silver medal in the team competition. After having runner-up finishes at the 2003 Venice Marathon and 2004 Prague Marathon, she won her first race over the classic distance at the Palermo City Marathon, knocking over five minutes off the former course record with her time of 2:31:15.Cheptanui Caroline Kilel
Marathon Info. Retrieved 1 October 2011. She finished sixteenth at the

2005 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships The 14th IAAF World Half Marathon Championships were held in Edmonton, Canada on 1 October 2005. The competition was replaced by the World Road Running Championships in 2006 and 2007, but revived as IAAF World Half Marathon Championships in 2008. ...

and won 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 ...

that year. In other competitions, she won the Semi-Marathon Marvejols-Mende and came seventh at the

Hamburg Marathon The Hamburg Marathon (german: 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 Gold Label Road Race by World Athlet ...

. She began to focus exclusively on road events from 2006 onwards. She had top three finishes at the

Dublin Marathon The Dublin Marathon is an annual 26.2 mile (42.2 km) road marathon in Dublin, Ireland, held on the last Sunday in October. Prior to 2016, the race took place on the last Monday in October, which is a public holiday in Ireland. Held each yea ...

and Prague Marathon that year and set a

personal best of 1:10:45 to win the

Great Scottish Run The Great Scottish Run is a series of mass-participation road running events, held annually in the streets of Glasgow, Scotland in October. The event began as a full marathon in 1979, but later changed to a weekend of shorter events. The weekend ...

. Her 2007 season was a low point, as she was out of the top five at both the RAK Half Marathon and the

Seoul International Marathon The Seoul International Marathon, also known as the ''Dong-A Ilbo Seoul Marathon or Seoul Marathon'' is an annual marathon race that takes place in Seoul, South Korea. It is one of two annual races over the 42.195 km classic distance in the ...

at the start of the year and did not compete after March.Caroline Kilel
Tilastopaja. Retrieved 1 October 2011. She returned to action in December 2008 and was in good form; she set a personal best to win the Pune Half Marathon then ran her second fastest ever time for the marathon (2:30:44) to claim the title at the Taipei International Marathon. In 2009, she was third at the BIG 25 Berlin race and attended the

2009 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships The 2009 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships was held in Birmingham, United Kingdom on 11 October 2009. It was the final event of the International Association of Athletics Federations' 2009 World Athletics Series. Organisation The city of B ...

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...

, England. She just missed out on the podium, finishing fourth, although she had managed to set a personal best of 1:08:16 as well as help Kenya to the team gold. She then went on to set a new personal best with a win at the Ljubljana Marathon a few weeks later, improving her previous mark by almost five minutes and setting a new course record in the process. She also won the Great Scottish Run in Glasgow for a second time and topped the podium at the

Montferland Run Pfixx Solar Montferland Run is an annual 15-kilometres road running competition held in 's-Heerenberg, Montferland, Netherlands. It was first organised in 1996 and typically takes place on the first Sunday in December. Unlike many elite level road ...

15K race. The following year, Kilel took part in the

and clocked 2:26:58 for third place. That October she had her biggest win on the circuit, taking the women's title at the

in a new course record and personal best of 2:23:25 hours, defeating Dire Tune by 19 seconds. She competed in numerous other events that year, including wins at the 20 kilomètres de Maroilles,

Zwolle Half Marathon Zwolle Half Marathon is an annual half marathon road running event held in Zwolle, Netherlands, in June. The race was first held in 2001 and attracts both amateur and professional runners. Over 3000 people took part in the 2008 edition of the race. ...

and Great Scottish Run. In April 2011, Kilel won the Boston Marathon in 2:22:36 beating American Desiree Davila, who ran the fastest Boston Marathon for an American women, by two seconds. She stayed on in Boston to compete at the inaugural B.A.A. 10K, which she also won in a time of 31:58 minutes. In September she came third in a Kenyan sweep of the Portugal Half Marathon, behind Mary Keitany and Helena Kirop. In her first race of 2012, she was runner-up to Belaynesh Oljira in a sprint finish at the

Houston Half Marathon The Houston Marathon is an annual marathon usually held every January in Houston, Texas, United States, since 1972. With thousands of runners and spectators, it is the largest single day sporting event in the city. It is run concurrently wit ...

. She suffered in the hot conditions at the 2012 Boston Marathon and not only failed to defend her title, but did not finish the race. She won the Taipei Marathon for a second time that December, running the distance in 2:30:19 hours. Returning to the Houston Half Marathon, she was again runner-up to an Ethiopian, this time to Mamitu Daska. Kilel faded badly at the 2013 Tokyo Marathon, coming 21st in 2:47:08 hours. She focused on the

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 ...

after that, but did not gain selection for the

2013 World Championships in Athletics The 14th IAAF World Championships in Athletics (Moscow 2013) () was an international athletics competition held in Moscow, Russia, from 10–18 August 2013. Initially, Russia won the most gold medals to top the table for the first time since 200 ...

. She returned to the top of the podium at the Frankfurt Marathon with a new personal best of 2:22:34 hours (a two-second improvement).

Personal bests

– 32:27.8h min (

2005) *

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 ...

– 1:08:16 hrs (

2009) * Marathon – 2:22:34 hrs (

2013)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kilel, Caroline 1981 births Living people Kenyan female long-distance runners Kenyan female marathon runners Boston Marathon female winners Athletes (track and field) at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Frankfurt Marathon female winners Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Kenya Kenyan female cross country runners 21st-century Kenyan women 20th-century Kenyan women