Reigning world half marathon record holder Joyciline Jepkosgei will be making her debut at the world marathon majors when she lines up at the 2019 New York City marathon this Sunday 3rd November.
The Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) runner will also be making her first marathon run, facing a stiff challenge from four-time winner Mary Keitany, three-time Vienna City marathon winner Nancy Kiprop among others for the title.
The 2017 Valencia Half marathon winner, where she ran with world record in 64:51 said she has been training well for the race and hopes to come home with good results.
“It’s my first marathon race and I believe I have done good training for the last four months. I will be running my race and I don’t want to promise anything for now but a good race,” said Jepkosgei
“My training was good and I had to train in Iten and sometimes I would join my training mate from KDF in Ngong. It was a good preparation and what remains is to implement what I have trained for in New York,” said Jepkosgei before flying out for the US on Tuesday night.
She competed at the New York City Half Marathon in March winning the race in 1:10:07 ahead of compatriot Mary Ngugi Wacera who clocked 1:11:07 while Ethiopia’s Buze Diriba finished third in 1:11:07.
She was later named as one of the pacemakers for the London Marathon women’s race where a world record attempt played out.
“I paced for London Marathon in April and dropped out after 30km. That also gave me good experience in the race and I now I know what to do on Sunday,” she said
Additional information Daily Nation