Ruth Wanjiru Kuria (born 11 September 1981) is a Kenyan professional long-distance runner who competes in marathon and

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 ...

races. She has a personal best of 2:27:38 hours for the longer distance (set in 2009) and was the 2013 winner of the

Eindhoven Marathon The Eindhoven Marathon (Dutch: ''Marathon Eindhoven'') is an annual marathon race over the classic distance of 42.195km which is held in the city of Eindhoven, The Netherlands in October. It has been an annual race since 1990 – it was held bie ...

. Wanjiru spent her early career in Japan, running for Hitachi, then Second Wind AC and regularly competed on the road circuit there. She represented her country at the 2009

Yokohama International Women's Ekiden The Yokohama International Women's Ekiden held in Yokohama, Japan, was one of the prominent ekiden races of the year. It was held annually from 1983 to 2009, and was discontinued because of the replacement of the Tokyo Women's Marathon by the Yokoh ...

Career

Wanjiru gained an

athletic scholarship An athletic scholarship is a form of scholarship to attend a college or university or a private high school awarded to an individual based predominantly on his or her ability to play in a sport. Athletic scholarships are common in the United ...

in Japan at Sendai Ikue High School (renowned for sports) as a teenager and moved there to study and improve her running. She was a contemporary of

Samuel Wanjiru Samuel Kamau Wanjiru (10 November 1986 – 15 May 2011) was a Kenyan long-distance runner who won the 2008 Beijing Olympics Marathon in an Olympic record time of 2:06:32; becoming the first Kenyan to win the Olympic gold in the marathon. He beca ...

, the 2008 Olympic champion, at the school. Initially she focused on middle- and long-distance

track running Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

; in her first year in Japan she won the high school title over 3000 metres. Following her graduation she moved in the corporate running system and began competing for Hitachi. At that year's Japan Corporate Track and Field Championships she set track bests of 15:43.05 minutes for the 5000 metres and 32:34.71 minutes for 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 ...

. Her fifth place finish at the

Sapporo Half Marathon The was an annual road running competition over the half marathon distance which took place each July in Sapporo, Japan. First held in 1958, the race began as a full marathon competition for men under the moniker of the Hokkai Times Marathon. Th ...

in 70:15 minutes was another best for the Kenyan.Ruth Wanjiru
Tilastopaja. Retrieved on 2013-10-26. She improved her track bests further to 15:31.49 and 31:56.21 minutes in 2003. She claimed her first big win at the Sanyo Women's Half Marathon in 2004.Nakamura, Ken (2004-12-25)
Ruth Wanjiru wins Sanyo Half Marathon
IAAF. Retrieved on 2013-10-26. She improved her best in the

event two years later to 70:04 minutes at the Miyazaki Women's Half Marathon, placing third. She had two road wins in 2006 at the Kasumigaura 10 Miles and the Shibetsu Half Marathon. She was eighth at the high-profile Miyazaki Half at the start of 2007. In November 2007 she won the Hakusan half marathon before making her debut over the full marathon distance at the Shanghai Marathon (marking the start of her competing outside Japan). At that race she successfully transitioned and finished fourth in a time of 2:43:16 hours. She was a little slower at the Nagano Marathon the next year, finishing tenth. In both 2008 and 2009, she placed third at the Sanyo Women's Half Marathon. Wanjiru began running for Second Wind AC and in 2009 she competed in her first European races. She began that year with a significant personal best at the

Osaka Ladies Marathon The is an annual marathon road race for women over the classic distance of 42.195 kilometres which is held on the 4th or 5th Sunday of January in the city of Osaka, Japan, and hosted by Japan Association of Athletics Federations, Kansai T ...

, running 2:27:38 hours for seventh place in a competitive field At the final edition of the

she helped the Kenyan women to second place behind the Japanese. She was runner-up at the

Hannover Marathon The Hannover Marathon is an annual road running event featuring races over the marathon, half marathon and 10 km distance that is held in May in the city of Hannover, Germany. Over 15,000 people took part in the day's races at the 2011 editio ...

and

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 ...

that year. After a two-year break from the sport in 2010 and 2011 she returned with a third place finish at the 2012

Ottawa Marathon The Ottawa Race Weekend (also known as Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend for sponsorship reasons) is an annual weekend of road running events held the last weekend of May in the city of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The two-day running event includes se ...

and a runner-up placing at the Ljubljana Marathon. In her two outings of 2013 she was only fifth at the Ottawa race, but had her first major European win at the

.Minshull, Phil (2013-10-13)
Tsegay ends Kenya's 14-year winning streak at Marathon Eindhoven
IAAF. Retrieved on 2013-10-26.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wanjiru, Ruth Living people 1981 births Kenyan female long-distance runners Kenyan female marathon runners People from Nyeri County