Mary Jepkosgei Keitany

Keitany at the2011 New York City Marathon
Personal information
Born	(1982-01-18)18 January 1982 (age 43) Kabarnet,Baringo County, Kenya
Weight	42 kg (93 lb)
Sport
Country	Kenya
Sport	Athletics
Event	Marathon
Retired	Sep. 2021
Achievements and titles
Personalbests	Half marathon: 64:55 (Ras Al Khaimah 2018) Marathon: 2:17:01WR (Wo,London 2017)
Medal record Women'sathletics Representing Kenya World Half Marathon Championships 2007 Udine Team 2009 Birmingham Individual 2009 Birmingham Team 2007 Udine Individual World Marathon Majors 2011 London Marathon 2012 London Marathon 2014 New York Marathon 2015 New York Marathon 2016 New York Marathon 2017 London Marathon 2018 New York Marathon 2015 London Marathon 2017 New York Marathon 2019 New York Marathon 2010 New York Marathon 2011 New York Marathon

Mary Jepkosgei Keitany (born 18 January 1982) is a Kenyan former professionallong distance runner. She was theworld record holder in a women-onlymarathon, having won the2017 London Marathon in a time of 2:17:01. As of November 2022, she placed fifth on theworld all-time list at the marathon and eleventh on the respectiveworld all-time list for thehalf marathon.

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 inroad 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.^[1] She and her husband Charles sit on the Shoe4Africa school board.^[2]

Born inKabarnet, Baringo County, Keitany started running while in primary school. In 2002, she joined the Hidden Talent Academy.^{[citation needed]}

In January, she placed 21st in her first senior race at theShoe4Africa 5 kilometre women's race.^[3]

She won a silver medal at theWorld Road Running Championships, finishing second toLornah Kiplagat who broke the world record.^[4]

After a year out due to pregnancy, she returned to competition at theWorld 10K Bangalore in May.^[5] She set a new personal best but finished one second behind winnerAselefech Mergia.^[6]

In September, she won theLille Half Marathon with a finish time of 1:07:00, which was the seventh fastest of all-time.^[7]

This performance qualified her for theWorld Half Marathon Championships in Birmingham, where she outpacedAberu Kebede to win her first world championship, set a new personal best of 1:06:36, and broke thechampionship 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 byKayoko 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.^[8] Her time was the second fastest ever in the half marathon (after Lornah Kiplagat). The half marathon time was a newAfrican record, with the previous record of 1:06:44 hours set byElana Meyer ofSouth Africa in 1999. Keitany also beat the previousKenyan record of 1:06:48 that she set in Udine two years earlier.^[9] The director of theNew York City Marathon,Mary Wittenberg, suggested that she could become a world-beater over the full marathon distance in the coming years.^[5]

She won theAbu Dhabi Half Marathon.^[10]

She also won theBerlin 25 kilometre race, setting a new world record of 1:19:53 hours. The previous record was set byMizuki Noguchi of Japan in 2005. Keitany finished almost five minutes ahead of runner-upAlice Timbilili.^[11]

In preparing for the New York City Marathon, she won thePortugal Half Marathon in Lisbon in September, leading from the front to win largely uncontested in a time of 1:08:46.^[12]

In her debut at theNew York City Marathon, she was among the leading three for much of the race but faded to finish third in a time of 2:29:01 hours.^[13]

Keitany began the year in record-breaking form as she won theRas 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.^[14]

She then won theLondon Marathon 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.^[15]

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.^[16]

She was the pre-race favourite for theNew York City Marathon, 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 byFirehiwot Dado andBuzunesh Deba, leaving her in third place with a finishing time of 2:23:38 hours.^[17]

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.^[18]

At theLondon Marathon, she brokeCatherine Ndereba's African record with a winning time of 2:18:37 hours and became the third fastest woman ever at this distance.^[19]

At theSummer Olympics in London, she ran a fast pace among the lead pack until the 41 kilometre mark, where she fell behind to finish fourth.^[20]

She announced her pregnancy at the start of 2013 and skipped that year's competitions.^[21]

On 2 November, Keitany battled with eventual second-place finisherJemima Sumgong to win theNew York City Marathon in a time of 2:25:07.^[22]

At theLondon Marathon, Keitany was one of the "Fantastic Four" of Kenyans (consisting of Keitany,Edna Kiplagat,Florence Kiplagat, andPriscah Jeptoo) who were expected to win the race and possibly challengePaula Radcliffe's course record (and women's world record). Down the last stretch of the race, Keitany battled EthiopianTirfi Tsegaye, with Keitany finishing second in 2:23:40 hours, 18 seconds behind winnerTigist Tufa from Ethiopia.^[23] Keitany remarked after the race that she was affected by the wind and cold weather.^[24]

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

In April, Keitany won theLondon Marathon, setting a new world record (women only) at 2:17:01 hours.^[25] She bettered Radcliffe's record by 41 seconds, which she set at the 2005 London Marathon. Tirunesh Dibaba finished second, 55 seconds behind.^[26] (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.^[27]

Earlier in February the same year, Keitany finished the Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon second (1:05.13) afterPeres Jepchirchir, whose 1:05:06 finish time set a new world record. The third, fourth, and fifth-place finishers (Joyciline Jepkosgei, Jemima Sumgong, andTirunesh Dibaba) also set new personal bests.^[28]

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.^[29]

Keitany did not compete at theWorld Championships in London.^[30]

On 10 September 2017, Keitany won the 2017Great North Run in 1:05:59, 20 seconds off her course record from 2014.^[31]

On 5 November 2017, she finished second at theNew York City Marathon at a time of 2:27:54.

On 4 November 2018, Keitany won theNew York City Marathon in a time of 2:22:48,^[32] 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 winnerShalane Flanagan was in third place with 2:26:22.^[33]

Keitany came second at theNew York City Marathon behind half marathon world record holder and debutanteJoyciline Jepkosgei in 2:23:32.^[34]

Mary Keitany announced her retirement on 22 September 2021 aged 39 years.^[35] Her retirement was occasioned by a hip injury she suffered during the 2019 London marathon, which restricted her training and performance.^[36]

She is married to another runnerCharles Koech and gave birth to her first child, Jared, in June 2008,^[37] 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.^[38]She trains inIten and is managed byGianni Demadonna.^[39]

Representing Kenya

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Event	Notes
2007	World Road Running Championships	Udine, Italy	2nd	Half marathon	1:06:48NR
2009	World Half Marathon Championships	Birmingham, United Kingdom	1st	Half marathon	1:06:36AR
2012	Olympic Games	London, United Kingdom	4th	Marathon	2:23:56
World Marathon Majors
2010	New York Marathon	New York, NY, United States	3rd	Marathon	2:29:01
2011	London Marathon	London, United Kingdom	1st	Marathon	2:19:19
	New York Marathon	New York, NY, United States	3rd	Marathon	2:23:38
2012	London Marathon	London, United Kingdom	1st	Marathon	2:18:37AR
2014	New York Marathon	New York, NY, United States	1st	Marathon	2:25:07
2015	London Marathon	London, United Kingdom	2nd	Marathon	2:23:40
	New York Marathon	New York, NY, United States	1st	Marathon	2:24:25
2016	London Marathon	London, United Kingdom	9th	Marathon	2:28:30
	New York Marathon	New York, NY, United States	1st	Marathon	2:24:26
2017	London Marathon	London, United Kingdom	1st	Marathon	2:17:01WRwo
	New York Marathon	New York, NY, United States	2nd	Marathon	2:27:54
2018	London Marathon	London, United Kingdom	5th	Marathon	2:24:27
	New York Marathon	New York, NY, United States	1st	Marathon	2:22:48
2019	London Marathon	London, United Kingdom	5th	Marathon	2:20:58
	New York Marathon	New York, NY, United States	2nd	Marathon	2:23:32
Road races
2006	Seville Half Marathon	Seville, Spain	1st	Half marathon	1:09:06
	São Silvestre Olivais 10K	Lisbon, Portugal	1st	10 km	33:06
2007	Almeria Half Marathon	Almeria, Spain	1st	Half marathon	1:13:02
	Ivry-sur-Seine Humarathon	Paris, France	1st	Half marathon	1:08:36
	Puy-en-Velay 15K	Puy-en-Velay, France	1st	15 km	50:10
	Lille Half Marathon	Lille, France	1st	Half marathon	1:08:43
2009	Lille Half Marathon	Lille, France	1st	Half marathon	1:07:00
	Delhi Half Marathon	New Delhi, India	1st	Half marathon	1:06:54
2011	Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon	Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates	1st	Half marathon	1:05:50WR
2016	Beach to Beacon 10K	Cape Elizabeth, ME, United States	1st	10 km	30:45CR
2017	Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon	Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates	2nd	Half marathon	1:05:13
	Beach to Beacon 10K	Cape Elizabeth, ME, United States	1st	10 km	30:41CR
2018	Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon	Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates	2nd	Half marathon	1:04:55

Wikimedia Commons has media related toMary Jepkosgei Keitany.

• Mary Jepkosgei Keitany atWorld Athletics
• Focus on Athletes article fromIAAF
• Mary Jepkosgei Keitany profile and results fromAssociation of Road Racing Statisticians

Records
Preceded by Lornah Kiplagat	Women's Half marathon World record holder 18 February 2011 – 16 February 2014	Succeeded by Florence Kiplagat

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

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• Articles with unsourced statements from May 2020
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