Paskalia Chepkorir Kipkoech (also known as ''Pasalia Jepkorir''; born 22 December 1988) 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 mainly in half marathon races. Her personal best of 67:17 minutes ranks her within the top twenty all-time for the distance. She was the bronze medallist at the

2012 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships The 2012 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships was held in Kavarna, Bulgaria on 6 October 2012. Detailed reports on the event and an appraisal of the results were given. Complete results were published for the men's race, for the wome ...

. She won a

3000 metres The 3000 metres or 3000-metre run is a track running event, also commonly known as the "3K" or "3K run", where 7.5 laps are run around an outdoor 400 m track, or 15 laps around a 200 m indoor track. It is debated whether the 3000m shoul ...

silver medal at the

2003 World Youth Championships in Athletics The 2003 World Youth Championships in Athletics was the third edition of the international athletics competition for youth (under-18) athletes organised by the IAAF. It was held in Sherbrooke, Canada from the 9–13 July at the Université de Sh ...

at the age of fourteen. She moved up to the half marathon distance in 2008 and has won races including 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 ...

Nairobi Half 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 p ...

, Udine Half Marathon and the

Corrida Internacional de São Silvestre The Saint Silvester Road Race ( pt, Corrida Internacional de São Silvestre) is a long-distance running event, the oldest and most prestigious street race in Brazil. Regarded as the main international event in Latin American athletics, the Brazi ...

. She also features in the top ten all-time for the

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 ...

, with a best of 30:57 minutes.

Career

Early career

Raised in Molo, Kenya, she is from the Kipsigis tribe originating from the west of Kenya. She came to prominence in 2003 when, after a fifth place performance 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 ...

in a senior meeting in

Eldoret Eldoret is a principal town in the Rift Valley region of Kenya and serves as the capital of Uasin Gishu County. The town was referred to by white settlers as Farm 64, 64 and colloquially by locals as 'Sisibo'. As per the 2019 Kenya Population ...

, she was chosen to represent Kenya at the

. The fourteen-year-old went on to take the silver medal in the

behind Morocco's

Siham Hilali Siham Hilali (born 2 May 1986 in Khouribga) is a female middle distance runner Morocco who specializes in the 1500 metres. Achievements Personal bests Outdoor * 800 metres – 2:02.04 min (2011) * 1500 metres – 4:01.33 min (2011) * 3000 metr ...

(two years her senior). Chepkorir was the youngest competitor at the tournament. She attempted to qualify for the

2005 World Youth Championships in Athletics The 2005 World Youth Championships in Athletics were held in Marrakesh, Morocco on July 13–July 17. The host stadium was Stade Sidi Youssef Ben Ali. The boy's 400 metres hurdles event was initially won by Sudan's Abdulagadir Idriss in a time ...

, but finished eighth at the national youth championships.

First senior races

A small runner, only reaching ,Biscayart, Eduardo (1 January 2010)
Kwambai and Kipkoech take Sao Paulo New Year's Eve wins
IAAF. Retrieved on 20 October 2014. Chepkorir started to compete at meetings abroad in 2007, running in Spain. She made her debut in the half marathon the following year, beginning with the

Lisbon Half Marathon EDP Lisbon Half Marathon is an annual international half marathon competition which is contested every March in Lisbon, Portugal. It carries IAAF Gold Label Road Race status. The men's course record of 57:31 was set by Jacob Kiplimo in 2021, whi ...

where she ran 71:15 minutes for eighth place. She was victorious at the Media Maraton de Ribarroja and also the half-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 p ...

that year.Paskalia Chepkorir
Tilastopaja. Retrieved on 20 October 2014. Her national performances also improved, as she was runner-up to

Peninah Jepchumba Peninah Jepchumba (born 14 January 1985 in Marakwet) is a Kenyan long-distance runner. She finished seventh in 3000 metres at the 2002 World Junior Championships and won the silver medal in the junior race at the 2003 World Cross Country Champi ...

in the 5000 m at 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 was in the top two at multiple meets on the Athletics Kenya Cross Country Series. A sixth place finish at the

Kenyan Cross Country Championships The Kenyan Cross Country Championships is an annual cross country running competition that serves as the national championship for Kenya. It is organised by Athletics Kenya and has permit race status from the International Association of Athletics ...

put her in the frame for the national team at the

2009 IAAF World Cross Country Championships 9 (nine) is the natural number following and preceding . Evolution of the Arabic digit In the beginning, various Indians wrote a digit 9 similar in shape to the modern closing question mark without the bottom dot. The Kshatrapa, Andhra and ...

, but the selectors opted for

Pauline Korikwiang Pauline Chemning Korikwiang (born 1 March 1988) is a Kenyan professional long-distance runner who competes in track and field, track and cross country running competitions. She rose in the youth ranks in 2005, taking a 3000 metres silver medal a ...

instead, who was in good form that season but performed poorly at the event. Chepkorir ran extensively on the roads that year, with highlights including a 10K win in

Brescia Brescia (, locally ; lmo, link=no, label= Lombard, Brèsa ; lat, Brixia; vec, Bressa) is a city and ''comune'' in the region of Lombardy, Northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Garda and Iseo. ...

, a defence of her Ribarroja title, a personal best time of 69:56 minutes for third at the

Prague Half Marathon The Prague Half Marathon (known as the Sportisimo Prague Half Marathon for sponsorship reasons) is an annual half marathon road running event which takes place in Spring on the city streets of Prague, Czech Republic, first held in 1999. It ...

, a win at the Udine Half Marathon, and a third place at the

Porto Half Marathon The Porto Half Marathon (Portuguese: ''Meia-Maratona do Porto'') is an annual half marathon road running event held in Porto, Portugal which follows the River Douro. Known as the Hyundai Porto Half Marathon for sponsorship reasons, the inaugural ed ...

. She was also the 5000 m runner-up at the Kenyan nationals that year. She closed the year with a win at the

15K.

Elite half marathons

Chepkorir established herself among the top half marathon runners in the world with a win at the

in March 2010, running a personal best of 69:43 minutes to beat Eunice Kales. She returned to the German city for 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 ...

race, and placed third. She was selected to compete for Kenya at the

2010 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships The 2010 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships was held in Nanning, China on 16 October 2010. The competition took place on the city streets, beginning and ending at Wuxiang Square, with a total prize purse of US$245,000 at stake. The Kenyan ...

but injury curtailed her season before she could make her international senior debut there. She missed the 2011 season but re-emerged in 2012 to set some personal bests in Brazil, running 30:57 minutes for the 10K and 67:17 minutes at the

Rio de Janeiro Half Marathon Rio or Río is the Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, and Maltese word for "river". When spoken on its own, the word often means Rio de Janeiro, a major city in Brazil. Rio or Río may also refer to: Geography Brazil * Rio de Janeiro * Rio do Sul, a ...

. Both marks moved her up into the top twenty all-time runners for each event and ranked her in the top five globally that season. She entered the

as one of Kenyan's quickest runners and she ran at the front of the race, eventually reducing the leaders down to herself Meseret Hailu and

Feyse Tadese Feyse Tadese Boru (born 19 November 1988) is an Ethiopian long-distance runner who competes in the half marathon. Career She made her marathon debut at the 2009 Venice Marathon and finished in tenth place with a time of 2:36:57. Feyse gained h ...

. She fell back in the latter stages of the race and finished with the

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 receive ...

, ten seconds behind the winner. She also led the Kenyan team to the silver medals in the team competition. This competition marked her only defeat of the year when her final race at the Nairobi Half Marathon resulted in her sixth win of the year. Her winning streak was abruptly ended in 2013 – a year in which she won no major races. Her best race came in February at the

RAK 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 ...

, although her time of 68:08 minutes was only enough for eighth in the top quality contest. The remaining highlights of that year for Chepkorir were third placings at the

Carlsbad 5000 The Carlsbad 5000 is an annual five kilometer (3.1 mile) road running event that takes place each spring in the city of Carlsbad, California along the north coast of San Diego County. Organization The event is organized by Groundwork Endurance, a ...

and the Lisbon Half Marathon, as well as a close runner-up finish to

Sylvia Kibet Sylvia Jebiwott Kibet (born 28 March, 1984) is a Kenyan professional long-distance runner. She was the silver medallist in the 5000 metres at the World Championships in Athletics in both 2009 and 2011. She also won medals over the d ...

at the

Carrera de la Mujer Carrera may refer to: People * Carrera (surname) Cars and racing * Carrera Panamericana, Mexican sports car racing event ** ''La Carrera Panamericana'', a video of the Carrera Panamericana race * Porsche Carrera, several models of sports cars by ...

.Biscayart, Eduardo (29 September 2013)
Kibet's sprint finish helps her triumph at Bogota's Carrera de la Mujer"
IAAF. Retrieved on 20 October 2014. She missed the 2014 season.

Personal bests

– 9:13.77 min (2003) *

– 15:56.48 min (2008) *

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 race ...

– 32:59.2 min (2013) *

5K run The 5K run is a long-distance road running competition over a distance of . Also referred to as the 5K road race, 5 km, or simply 5K, it is the shortest of the most common road running distances. It is usually distinguished from the 5000 met ...

– 15:28 min (2013) *

– 30:57 min (2012) * 15K run – 52:30 min (2009) *

25K run The 25K run (25 kilometers, approximately 15.52 miles) is a long distance running footrace that is between the distance of a half marathon and a marathon. It was formerly an official world record distance in road running by World Athletics,

– 1:26:47 min (2010) * Half marathon – 67:17 min (2012)

International competitions

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chepkorir Kipkoech, Paskalia Living people 1988 births Kenyan female long-distance runners People from Nakuru County Sportspeople from Rift Valley Province Kipsigis people