Veronica Nyaruai Wanjiru (born October 29, 1989, in

Nyahururu Nyahururu (formerly known as Thomson Falls) is a town in Kenya, lying north east of Nakuru. The town derives its name from the Maasai word e-naiwurruwurr, meaning waterfall or windy or place of storms. It is located in both Laikipia County and ...

) is a Kenyan runner who specialises in

1500 metres The 1500 metres or 1500-metre run 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 Athletics since 1983. It is equivalent to 1.5 kilomet ...

. She now lives in

Kaptagat Kaptagat is a settlement in Uasin Gishu County, in the southwestern part of Kenya. This part of the country, where the two counties of Uasin Gishu and Elgeyo Marakwet County share a border, is used by the majority of Kenyan professional long-d ...

, where she attends PACE training camp. She took part at the 2007 world Championships, but was 12th overall and missed the 1500 m final. In 2008, she would have been eligible to defend her Junior World title, but she placed fourth at the Kenyan trial and was not selected. She is based at the PACE Sports Management training camp in

. Nyaruai won the

Cross Internacional de Venta de Baños The Cross Internacional de Venta de Baños is a cross country running competition that takes place in Venta de Baños, Castile and León, Spain. The competition was first held in 1980 and since then it has been held every year in mid-December. Amon ...

in 2009, beating

Steph Twell Stephanie April Twell (born 17 August 1989) is a British middle- and long-distance runner who competed at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. She trains at Aldershot, Farnha ...

in the process.Valiente, Emeterio (2009-12-21)
Sánchez defeats European champion Bezabeh in Venta de Baños

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 ...

. Retrieved on 2009-12-27.

Achievements

Personal bests

- 4:08.21 min (2006) *

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 3000 m sho ...

- 8:52.9 min (2005) *

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 sta ...

- 15:13.1 min (2005)

Awards

In the 2005

Kenyan Sports Personality of the Year Kenyan Sport Personality of the Year Awards, also known as SOYA Awards, are annual national awards given for sports personalities and organisations in Kenya. The awards were initiated in 2004 by Paul Tergat. The awards for each year are held at th ...

awards, Wanjiru was selected the most promising sportswoman of the year. She finished third at the sportswoman of the year category, behind

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 ...

and the boxer

Conjestina Achieng Conjestina Achieng (born 20 October 1977 in Umiru village, Yala division, Siaya District. Conjestina is the fifth born in a family of ten. Her father Clement Adalo is a retired medical officer and her mother is Gertrude Auma. Her elder brother ...

.IAAF, March 2, 2006:
''Athletes dominate Kenyan Sports Awards''
/ref>

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nyaruai, Veronica 1989 births Living people Kenyan female middle-distance runners Kenyan female long-distance runners Kenyan female steeplechase runners African Games silver medalists for Kenya African Games silver medalists in athletics (track and field) Kenyan female cross country runners Athletes (track and field) at the 2007 All-Africa Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for Kenya