Back injury forces Mary Keitany's marathon career

World marathon record holder and seven-time World Marathon Majors winner Mary Keitany has called her time off the road siting a nagging injury.

Keitany announced her retirement on Wednesday 22 September 2021, after a stellar career which saw her win the London Marathon on three occasions and the New York Marathon four times, as well as triumph at the 2009 World Half Marathon Championships. 

Keitany, 39, still holds the marathon world record for a women-only race, having clocked a stunning 2:17:01 when winning the third of her London Marathon titles in 2017. 

“After my successful 2019, when I had some good results including second place in New York, I was hopeful that I could still be very competitive internationally for several more years even though I am in my late 30s.

However, I am sad to say a back injury that I suffered in late 2019 made the decision about my retirement for me. I could not get the treatment I wanted in Europe because of the pandemic-related travel restrictions last year and every time I thought I had got over the injury and started training hard, it became a problem again. So now is the time to say goodbye, if only as an elite runner, to the sport I love so much," she said. 

Keitany first came to global attention in 2007, after local success in the previous year, with a series of good performances in European half marathons which then earned her a place in the Kenyan team at that year’s World Half Marathon Championships. 

A silver medal at the 2007 edition of that event, and team gold, was followed by more than a decade among the very best of the world’s female road runners, even with breaks in 2008 and 2013 to give birth to her children Jared and Samantha. 

Keitany won the 2009 world half marathon title in Birmingham, England, by over a minute in 1:06:36, at the time the second fastest mark ever on a record-legal course and an African record. She also led Kenya to the team gold medals.

After finishing third in New York on her marathon debut in 2010, her first major marathon win came in her next race over the classic distance when she triumphed in the 2011 Virgin Money London Marathon and further victories in the British capital came in 2012 and 2017.  

She picked three consecutive wins in the New York Marathon between 2014 and 2016, an impressive record, before winning in the Big Apple again in 2018. 

Other accolades include setting a world half marathon record of 1:05:50 at the 2011 RAK Half Marathon, fourth place in the London 2012 Olympic Games marathon, and she continues to hold the women-only 25km world best of 1:19:43, set during her triumphant 2017 Virgin Money London Marathon run.

"As for the future, I have not fully decided on my plans but I’m looking forward to spending more time with my family. My children are currently 13 and eight. In addition, I am involved with some local charitable enterprises,” said Keitany, who added that she still intends to pay close attention to what is happening in the world of distance running.