Chepngetich wins first-ever national track title

Athletics Kenya (AK) began its national championship which doubles as the qualifiers to the Senior Africa Athletics Championships on Tuesday 26 April with one track final held on the opening day. 

In a star-studded women’s 10000m final, Kenya Prisons’ Ruth Chepngetich, the World marathon titleholder proved that her victory at the Police Service championships was no fluke as she dominated to lead a 1-2 finish for her employer, clocking 31:47.9. 

Chepngetich who is preparing to defend her title at the World Athletics Championships set for 15 to 24 July in Oregon won her first national track title on the first attempt ahead of former Africa champion Alice Aprot who clocked 32.01.0 to beat Kenya Defence Forces’ (KDF) Purity Komen who timed 32.32.6 to complete the podium list. 

“This is part of my preparations for the marathon title defence in Oregon. Being on track for the second time ever was really tough. I kicked early and to sustain that pace for the win was a real challenge. 

However, being part of my speed and endurance training I am happy with my performance. I can say this is the official start of my preparations for Oregon. During the National Police Service (NPS) where I ran in both 5000m and 10000m, I had an easier time but the competitors in the national championships really pushed me,” offered Chepngetich who made her debut on track at the NPS championship after eight years of racing.

Chepngetich, last week in an interview while she was accepting her award as the sports personality of the month of March, said that joining Prisons and having to represent them in track events has changed the way she prepares for races, adding that the discipline and focus that comes with being in the disciplined forces will go a long way in adding to her already successful career.

The 27-year-old plunged into the murky waters of long-distance racing immediately after completing her high school, without a coach and on several occasions tried to join both KDF and Kenya Police unsuccessfully, by her own admission.

However, that did not dampen her spirits and she kept at it, without a coach, efforts that paid off eventually.

In 2018, she won the women's only road race at the 40th Istanbul Marathon. She ran 2:18:35 which was a race record, the best performance ever on Turkish soil and the seventh-best time in history, becoming the 10th athlete of all time to go below 2:19 and 30th under 2:20.

She won Dubai Marathon in 2019 in a course record-breaking time of 2:17.8. She ran the then-20th fastest half marathon of all-time at the Bahrain Night Half Marathon in a time of 66:9.

Chepng'etich achieved the then-12th fastest half marathon of all-time at the Vodafone Istanbul Half Marathon with a 65:30. She won the world title during the 2019 World Athletics Championships in Doha, Qatar, clocking 2:32.43. 

She finished third in London Marathon in October 2020. On 4 April 2021, Chepng'etich set a world record of 1:04:02 at the Istanbul Half Marathon in Turkey, taking 29 seconds off the previous best set by Ababel Yeshaneh in 2020.

On 10 October, she won the Chicago Marathon with a time of 2:22:31. On 13 March, Chepng'etich posted the second-fastest ever women-only marathon time to win the Nagoya Women's Marathon in Japan.