Mary Jepkosgei Keitany (born 18 January 1982) is a Kenyan former professional long distance runner. She was the world record holder in a women-only

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of kilometres ( 26 mi 385 yd), 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 ...

, having won the 2017 London Marathon in a time of 2:17:01. As of November 2022, she placed fifth on the world all-time list at the marathon and eleventh on the respective world all-time list for 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 shortcu ...

. Her former half marathon best of 1:05:50 (2011) remained the women's world record for three years . She also has held world bests at 10 miles (50:05 minutes), 20 kilometres (1:02:36), and 25 kilometres (1:19:53), all of which were set in road races. In August 2018, she was honored by the Shoe4Africa foundation who funded and built the Mary Keitany Shoe4Africa school in Torokwonin, Baringo County, Kenya. She and her husband Charles sit on the Shoe4Africa school board.

Career

Born in

Kabarnet Kabarnet is a town in Baringo County, Kenya. According to the 2019 census, the town had a population of 22,474 with 10,943 (48.8%) of them being males and 11,531(51.1%) of them being females. Geography At an altitude of 1,815 metres (5,957 fe ...

, Baringo County, Keitany started running while in primary school. In 2002, she joined the Hidden Talent Academy.

2006

In January, she placed 21st in her first senior race at the Shoe4Africa 5 kilometre women's race.

2007

She won a silver medal at the World Road Running Championships, finishing second to

Lornah Kiplagat Lornah Kiplagat (born 1 May 1974) is a Dutch professional Long-distance track event, long-distance Running, runner. She was born in Keiyo District, Kabiemit, Rift Valley Province, Kenya and moved to the Netherlands in 1999. She gained Dutch cit ...

who broke the world record.

2009

After a year out due to pregnancy, she returned to competition at the World 10K Bangalore in May. She set a new personal best but finished one second behind winner Aselefech Mergia. In September, she won the Lille Half Marathon with a finish time of 1:07:00, which was the seventh fastest of all-time. This performance qualified her for the World Half Marathon Championships in Birmingham, where she outpaced Aberu Kebede to win her first world championship, set a new personal best of 1:06:36, and broke the championship record. She won a second gold medal as part of the winning Kenyan squad in the team competition. Reflecting on the win, she noted, "It's my best ever time, so I'm so happy.... I had a baby just 1 year and 3 months ago." Her 15 kilometre interval time, 46:51 minutes, was faster than the world record of 46:55 held by Kayoko Fukushi of Japan; however, Keitany's time was not ratified as a new world record because of the lower elevation of the 15 kilometre mark compared to the race start. Her time was the second fastest ever in the half marathon (after Lornah Kiplagat). The half marathon time was a new African record, with the previous record of 1:06:44 hours set by

Elana Meyer Elana Meyer, Order of Ikhamanga, OIS, (born 10 October 1966) is a South African long-distance runner who won the silver medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics in the 10,000 metres event. Meyer set the 15 kilometres road running List of African reco ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

in 1999. Keitany also beat the previous Kenyan record of 1:06:48 that she set in Udine two years earlier. The director of the

New York City Marathon The New York City Marathon, currently branded as the TCS New York City Marathon for sponsorship reasons, is an annual marathon () that courses through the five boroughs of New York City. It is the largest marathon in the world, with 53,627 fini ...

Mary Wittenberg Mary Wittenberg ( Robertson; born July 17, 1962) is an American sports executive who formerly served as President (corporate title), president of professional women's association football, women's soccer club NJ/NY Gotham FC. She was previously ...

, suggested that she could become a world-beater over the full marathon distance in the coming years.

2010

She won the Abu Dhabi Half Marathon. She also won the Berlin 25 kilometre race, setting a new world record of 1:19:53 hours. The previous record was set by Mizuki Noguchi of Japan in 2005. Keitany finished almost five minutes ahead of runner-up Alice Timbilili. In preparing for the New York City Marathon, she won the Portugal Half Marathon in Lisbon in September, leading from the front to win largely uncontested in a time of 1:08:46. In her debut at the

, she was among the leading three for much of the race but faded to finish third in a time of 2:29:01 hours.

2011

Keitany began the year in record-breaking form as she won the Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon with a world record time of 1:05:50 hours. This marked the first time a woman had run the distance in under 1:06 hours on a non-aided course. She also set other records along the way, including a world record of 1:02:36 for 20 kilometres and world best times for 8 kilometres and 10 miles. She then won the

London Marathon The London Marathon (also known as the TCS London Marathon for sponsorship reasons) is an annual marathon held in London, England. Founded by athletes Chris Brasher and John Disley in 1981, it is typically held in April, although it moved to Oct ...

in a time of 2:19:17, pulling away from the field at the 14-mile mark and becoming the fourth fastest woman ever over the marathon distance. In September, she won the Portugal Half Marathon for the second time and improved upon her own course record with a winning time of 1:07:54 hours. She was the pre-race favourite for the

, where she built a significant lead by the halfway point (running at more than four minutes faster than the course record). She slowed dramatically, however, in the second half of the race and was overtaken by Firehiwot Dado and Buzunesh Deba, leaving her in third place with a finishing time of 2:23:38 hours.

2012

She intended to improve her world record mark at the Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon, but windy conditions slowed her to a finish time of 1:06:49 hours. At the

, she broke

Catherine Ndereba Catherine Nyambura Ndereba (born 21 July 1972) is a retired Kenyan marathon runner. Between 2003 and 2008, she finished in the top two in five successive global championship marathons. Ndereba has twice won the marathon at the World Championshi ...

's African record with a winning time of 2:18:37 hours and became the third fastest woman ever at this distance. At the Summer Olympics in London, she ran a fast pace among the lead pack until the 41 kilometre mark, where she fell behind to finish fourth.

2013

She announced her pregnancy at the start of 2013 and skipped that year's competitions.

2014

On 2 November, Keitany battled with eventual second-place finisher Jemima Sumgong to win the

in a time of 2:25:07.

2015

At the

, Keitany was one of the "Fantastic Four" of Kenyans (consisting of Keitany, Edna Kiplagat, Florence Kiplagat, and Priscah Jeptoo) who were expected to win the race and possibly challenge

Paula Radcliffe Paula Jane Radcliffe Order of the British Empire, MBE (born 17 December 1973) is a British former long-distance runner. She is a three-time winner of the London Marathon (2002, 2003, 2005), three-time New York Marathon champion (2004, 2007, 200 ...

's course record (and women's world record). Down the last stretch of the race, Keitany battled Ethiopian Tirfi Tsegaye, with Keitany finishing second in 2:23:40 hours, 18 seconds behind winner Tigist Tufa from Ethiopia. Keitany remarked after the race that she was affected by the wind and cold weather.

2016

Keitany won the

in 2:24:26 hours. Sally Kipyego finished second (2:28:01), with Molly Huddle in third (2:28:13). Keitany won the 2016 Bix 7 Road Race in Davenport, Iowa in 35:18 and set the course record for women.

2017

In April, Keitany won the

, setting a new world record (women only) at 2:17:01 hours. She bettered Radcliffe's record by 41 seconds, which she set at the 2005 London Marathon. Tirunesh Dibaba finished second, 55 seconds behind. (Radcliffe has run a faster time in a mixed gender event, but that is a separate record.) Her 1st half marathon split time was 1:06:54 hours. Earlier in February the same year, Keitany finished the Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon second (1:05.13) after Peres Jepchirchir, whose 1:05:06 finish time set a new world record. The third, fourth, and fifth-place finishers ( Joyciline Jepkosgei, Jemima Sumgong, and Tirunesh Dibaba) also set new personal bests. She won the TD Beach to Beacon 10k on 5 August 2017 in a course record time of 30:41 minutes. She improved the cr set at last year's run. Keitany did not compete at the World Championships in London. On 10 September 2017, Keitany won the 2017

Great North Run The Great North Run (branded the AJ Bell 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 Shie ...

in 1:05:59, 20 seconds off her course record from 2014. On 5 November 2017, she finished second at the

at a time of 2:27:54.

2018

On 4 November 2018, Keitany won the

in a time of 2:22:48, a time just 17 seconds off the course record. For the first half she needed 75:30 and the second 66:58, in a women-only race. Her 10 km interval times were 37:07, 35:02, 31:33, 31:47 and 7:19 for the last 2.195 km. Keitany's time between km 25 and km 35 was 30:53. Vivian Cheruiyot was the runner up in 2:26:02, and the previous year's winner Shalane Flanagan was in third place with 2:26:22.

2019

Keitany came second at the

behind half marathon world record holder and debutante Joyciline Jepkosgei in 2:23:32.

Retirement

Mary Keitany announced her retirement on 22 September 2021 aged 39 years. Her retirement was occasioned by a hip injury she suffered during the 2019 London marathon, which restricted her training and performance.

Personal life

She is married to another runner Charles Koech and gave birth to her first child, Jared, in June 2008, and her second child, Samantha, in April 2013. She stopped training and other sporting activities at the third month of pregnancy, and resumed when the babies were six months old. She trains in Iten and is managed by Gianni Demadonna.

Major competition record

World Marathon Majors results

Personal bests

References

External links

*
Focus on Athletes article
from

IAAF World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation and International Association of Athletics Federations and formerly abbreviated as the IAAF, is the international sports governing body, governing body for the sport ...

Mary Jepkosgei Keitany profile and results
from

Association of Road Racing Statisticians The Association of Road Racing Statisticians is an independent, non-profit organization that collects, analyzes, and publishes statistics regarding road running races. The primary purpose of the ARRS is to maintain a valid list of world road record ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Keitany, Mary 1982 births Living people Sportspeople from Baringo County Kenyan female long-distance runners Kenyan female marathon runners Olympic athletes for Kenya Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics World Athletics Half Marathon Championships winners London Marathon female winners World Athletics record holders New York City Marathon female winners Recipients of the Association of International Marathons and Distance Races Best Marathon Runner Award