Lucy Wangui Kabuu (born 24 March 1984) is a Kenyan
long-distance runner who specializes in the
5000 5000 or ''variation'', may refer to:
In general
* A.D. 5000, the last year of the 5th millennium CE, an exceptional common year starting on Wednesday
* 5000 BCE, a year in the 5th millennium BC
* 5000s AD, a decade, century, millennium in the 6th ...
and
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 ...
events. She has represented Kenya twice at the
Summer Olympics, finishing in the top ten of the 10,000 m race in both 2004 and 2008. Her personal bests of 14:33.49 minutes for the 5000 m and 30:39.96 minutes for the 10,000 m make her one of Kenya's fastest ever runners in the events.
She was based in Japan for her early career. Internationally, she was a team
silver medallist at the
IAAF World Cross Country Championships
World Athletics Cross Country Championships is the most important competition in international cross country running. Formerly held annually and organised by World Athletics (formerly the IAAF), it was inaugurated in 1973, when it replaced the Int ...
in 2005 and was a double long-distance medallist at the
2006 Commonwealth Games (where she was the 10,000 m champion and 5000 m
bronze medallist). Since 2011 she has competed on the
road
A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation.
There are many types of ...
and has won at the
Great North Run
The Great North Run (branded the Simplyhealth Great North Run for sponsorship purposes) is the largest half marathon in the world, taking place annually in North East England each September. Participants run between Newcastle upon Tyne and South ...
and the
Delhi Half Marathon
Airtel Delhi Half Marathon (ADHM) 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 an AIMS-certified course and is listed as a Gold Label Road Rac ...
. She made her
marathon debut in 2012 and became the eighth fastest woman ever with a time of 2:19:34 hours for second place at the
Dubai Marathon
The Dubai Marathon is an annual road-based marathon hosted by 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 Marathon was held ...
.
Career
She was born in 1984 in
Ichamara in the
Mukurweini/
Nyeri
Nyeri is a town situated in the Central Highlands of Kenya. It is the county headquarters of Nyeri County. The town was the central administrative headquarters of the country's former Central Province. Following the dissolution of the former pr ...
region of central Kenya. Her potential for long-distance running was identified when she was at primary school.
John Kanyi, a local runner who was based in Japan, encouraged her to try for an athletic scholarship to enable her to study and train there as well. She performed well in the scholarship selection races and, aged sixteen, won a place at
Aomori Yamada High School.
While in Japan, she won 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 Athle ...
at the high school championships and, after graduation in 2002, she commenced training with the
Suzuki Track and Field Club.
[ She signed with PACE Sports Management and is coached by Ricky Simms. Wangui set a Kenyan junior record for the 10,000 m in September 2003. She won the All-Japan Corporate Half Marathon title in Yamaguchi the following March.][
She came first in the 5000 metres at the 2004 Japanese Athletics Championships, competing as a guest. Following this she was the runner-up in the Kenyan Olympic trials over 10,000 m. Her first major international appearance came at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, where she finished ninth in the 10,000 metres event.][Lucy Wangui]
Sports Reference. Retrieved 27 November 2011. She ran over that distance at the Hyogo Relays meet and had three straight wins from 2005 to 2007. She finished tenth in 5000 metres at the 2005 World Athletics Final.[ Wangui made her international debut on grass that year at the 2005 IAAF World Cross Country Championships, where her fifth-place finish in the short race made the Kenyan team a close second to Ethiopia in the team rankings.][
In March 2006 she won the women's 10,000 metres event at the 2006 Commonwealth Games with a time of 31 minutes, 29.66 seconds. She also finished third in the 5000 metres. Towards the end of the season she finished tenth in 3000 metres at the ]World Athletics Final
The IAAF World Athletics Final was an annual track and field competition organised by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). It was inaugurated in 2003 to replace the IAAF Grand Prix Final. The competition was part of the ...
. In November she was selected for the Kenyan women's team at the International Chiba Ekiden
The International Chiba Ekiden was an annual team road running competition held in Chiba, Japan in late November. The marathon relay race, or ekiden as it is known in Japan, is one of the prominent annual races of its kind. The competition is spl ...
. She was slower than Maria Konovalova on the final leg, but maintained Kenya's lead to win the women's title. The team's time of 2:13:35 hours was later ratified as an African record for the ekiden
is a long-distance running multi-stage relay race, mostly held on Road running, roads.Otake, Tomoko. ''One for All.'' Dec. 28, 200The Japan Times accessed Feb. 19, 2009.
The original Japanese term had nothing to do with a sport or a competiti ...
marathon relay.
Wangui began her 2008 season with a win at the Chiba International Cross Country. At the 2008 African Championships in Athletics
The 16th African Championships in Athletics was held in Addis Ababa, the capital city of Ethiopia, from April 30 to May 4, 2008. The competition venue was the Addis Ababa Stadium. It is the largest Athletics event held in Ethiopia to date. It was t ...
she finished fourth in 10,000 m behind a trio of Ethiopian's led by Tirunesh Dibaba
Tirunesh Dibaba ( om, Xirunesh Dibaabaa, Amharic: ጥሩነሽ ዲባባ ቀነኒ; born 1 June 1985) is an Ethiopian athlete who competed in long-distance track events and international road races. She has won three Olympic track gold medal ...
. At the national Olympic trials she won the 10,000 m and came second over 5000 m. Despite her wish to compete in both events, the Kenyan selectors instead chose her just for the 10,000 m, choosing 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 ...
for the shorter distance instead.[ In her second outing on the Olympic stage at the 2008 Beijing Games she finished seventh in the 10,000 metres, running a personal best time of 30:39.96 minutes.][
After a competitive break in 2009 and 2010, due to an ]Achilles tendon
The Achilles tendon or heel cord, also known as the calcaneal tendon, is a tendon at the back of the lower leg, and is the thickest in the human body. It serves to attach the plantaris, gastrocnemius (calf) and soleus muscles to the calcaneus ( ...
injury then pregnancy, she returned to action on the 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 ...
circuit. She had wins at the Great North Run
The Great North Run (branded the Simplyhealth Great North Run for sponsorship purposes) is the largest half marathon in the world, taking place annually in North East England each September. Participants run between Newcastle upon Tyne and South ...
half marathon and the Great Edinburgh Run
The Great Edinburgh Run was an annual ten-mile road running event which took place in the city centre of Edinburgh in Scotland. The last event was in April 2017 and the organiser have no plans to reinstate the event at present. Part of the Great ...
10K in September and October. She then travelled to the Delhi Half Marathon
Airtel Delhi Half Marathon (ADHM) 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 an AIMS-certified course and is listed as a Gold Label Road Rac ...
and won in a personal best of 1:07:04 hours ahead of fellow Kenyan Sharon Cherop.
She made her debut over the marathon distance in January 2012 at the Dubai Marathon
The Dubai Marathon is an annual road-based marathon hosted by 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 Marathon was held ...
. In one of the fastest races ever at that point, she completed the race in 2:19:34 hours to take second place just three seconds behind defending champion Aselefech Mergia
Aselefech Mergia Medessa ( Oromo: ''Asallafach Margaa Mardaasaa''; Amharic: አሰለፈች መርጊያ; born 23 January 1985) is an Ethiopian long-distance runner who competes in the marathon. She was a bronze medallist in the event at the 2009 ...
. This was among the fastest ever debuts by a woman and ranked her eighth in the all-time lists. She placed fifth at the 2012 London Marathon in April, but missed out on the 2012 London Olympics
The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
as she failed to finish in the 10,000 m trial race at the Prefontaine Classic
The Prefontaine Classic, an Oregon Track Club event, is one of the premier track and field meets in the United States, held in Eugene, Oregon. Every year it draws a world caliber field to compete at Hayward Field on the campus of the University ...
. In her third marathon of the year, she reached the podium with a third-place finish at the 2012 Chicago Marathon. She won the 2013 Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon
Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon is an annual half marathon held in Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates.
History
The first event, in 2007, saw Samuel Wanjiru breaking the world record, but Wanjiru himself set a new world record only a month later in ...
with a new personal best of 1:06:09, just 19 seconds off Mary Keitany's world record.
Kabuu ran the third fastest ever time over 25 kilometres to win the BIG 25 Berlin in May, crossing the line in 1:21:37 hours. She was selected for the Kenyan marathon team at 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 ...
but performed poorly in Moscow, finishing 24th in a time of 2:44:06 hours. He last outing that year was a third-place finish at the Delhi Half Marathon
Airtel Delhi Half Marathon (ADHM) 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 an AIMS-certified course and is listed as a Gold Label Road Rac ...
.
Personal bests
*All information taken from IAAF profile.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wangui, Lucy
1984 births
Living people
People from Nyeri County
Kenyan female long-distance runners
Kenyan female marathon runners
Olympic athletes of Kenya
Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics
Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics
Athletes (track and field) at the 2006 Commonwealth Games
Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Kenya
Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for Kenya
Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics
Kenyan female cross country runners
21st-century Kenyan women