 Kiprop at the 2014 Frankfurt Marathon | ||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born | 7 April 1985 (1985-04-07) (age 40) Nyeri, Kenya | |||||||||||
| Height | 160 cm (5 ft 3 in)[1] | |||||||||||
| Weight | 50 kg (110 lb) | |||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||
| Sport | Athletics | |||||||||||
| Event | 5000 m –marathon | |||||||||||
| Achievements and titles | ||||||||||||
| Personalbest(s) | 5000 m – 15:33.90 (2007) 10,000 m – 33:03.8 (2009) 10 km – 31:19 (2013) Half marathon – 67:39 (2013) Marathon – 2:27:29 (2014) | |||||||||||
Medal record
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Helah Kiprop Jelagat (born 7 April 1985) is aKenyan professionallong-distance runner who competes in thehalf marathon andmarathon. Her personal bests for the events are 1:07:39 minutes and 2:21:27 hours, respectively.[2]
She has won theBerlin Half Marathon, theEgmond Half Marathon and theZwolle Half Marathon. She was the 2014 winner of theSeoul International Marathon and came fourth at the2013 Berlin Marathon.
Kiprop had her first win in a European road race inNogent-sur-Marne in 2005, running 32:55 minutes at the local10K run. She began training with GS Valsugana Trentino, an athletics club inTrento, Italy, and made a successfulhalf marathon debut in September 2005, taking third place at the high profileLille Half Marathon with a time of 74:02 minutes. She ran for the club intrack races in 2006 and 2007, but did not have the same levels of performance as she did on the roads.[3] She won theCorrida di San Geminiano 15K race in 2007.[4] She returned to Kenya in 2008 and at the end of the year won theTuskys Wareng Cross Country.[5]
A series of road victories came in 2009. A personal best of 69:29 minutes to win at theNice Half Marathon ranked her in the top forty for the event that year.[6] She won at theMerano-Lugundo Half Marathon, theCuneo Run and the 10K de la Provence inMarseilles.[3] She had a close battle withMeseret Mengistu at theMarseille-Cassis Classique Internationale, but ended up in second place to herEthiopian rival.[7]Kiprop was mainly a runner-up in 2010, starting at theAlicante Half Marathon, then thePaderborner Osterlauf,Hambaurg Alsterlauf andSingelloop Utrecht. She won thePoznan Half Marathon and theSotokoto Safari Half Marathon, as well as setting a personal best 32:20 minutes to win a 10K inOelde. She did not compete in 2011.[3] She reached new heights in 2012 and was runner-up at theBerlin Half Marathon in a time of 68:26 minutes, just one second behindPhiles Ongori.[8] A win at theWorld Bangalore 10K followed a month after.[9] In June she won theZwitserloot Dak Run in a best of 31:44 minutes and was the victor at theZwolle Half Marathon.[3] She travelled toSouth America for the first time and came third at theBogotá Half Marathon.[10] A close third at theDelhi Half Marathon in November was her last big road race that year.[11]
The 2013 season marked a career breakthrough for Kiprop as she achieved new personal bests and ran in her first majormarathon race. She began the year with a win at theEgmond Half Marathon.[12] TheRAK Half Marathon proved to be a very fast race, with four women under 67 minutes – Kiprop's personal best time of 67:39 minutes for sixth place was the fastest ever recorded for such a low position.[13] She set out to win at the Berlin Half Marathon, taking an early lead, and was first to finish in 67:54 minutes, reversing her placings with Ongori from the previous year.[14] Her fast performances earned her an invite to the2013 Berlin Marathon and on her debut run she recorded a time of 2:28:02 hours for the distance, ending in fourth place in the top level competition. Her last outing that year was at the first everKochi Half Marathon, which she won.[15]
Kiprop was among the leaders at the 2014 RAK Half Marathon, but fell behind the eventual winnerPriscah Jeptoo and finished fourth in 68:36 minutes.[16] At the 2014Seoul International Marathon, Kiprop topped the podium in the classic distance for the first time. Her run of 2:27:29 hours was a personal best and enough to fend offAshu Kasim in the final kilometres of the race.[17]
She was coached by her husband, UgandanDavid Marus.[18]
In 2017 Kiprop competed in themarathon at the2017 World Championships held in London, placing 7th in 2:28:19.[19]
| World Marathon Majors | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tokyo Marathon | - | - | 2nd | 1st | - | 5th |
| Boston Marathon | - | - | - | - | - | |
| London Marathon | - | - | - | - | 7th | |
| Berlin Marathon | 4th | - | - | - | - | |
| Chicago Marathon | - | - | - | - | - | |
| New York City Marathon | - | - | - | - | - |
