Former world half marathon record holder Florence Jebet Kiplagat will be the star attraction at next weekend’s Gold Coast Marathon on July 2nd.
The double Berlin marathon champion will be returning to action after five years of long wait due to the injury and sickness.
“It has been long since I completed and my return into action after four years in the cold is a sign that God loves me. I want my return to be better than before,” said Kiplagat.
She will be hoping to lower the course record currently held by Lindsay Flanagan at 2:24.43. Kiplagat’s best time stands at 2:19.44 set in 2011 at the Berlin Marathon on her second victory.
“I entered the Stockholm Marathon late and failed to secure a visa. That made me change my mind to compete at the Gold Coast Marathon in Australia,” she said.
The Iten-based runner had three incidents that kept her from running. First, the nagging injury, followed by the coronavirus then sickness. She says after the injury in 2019, she was to return to action but the world was hit by the Coronavirus pandemic. “When the pandemic was over and planning to return, I fell sick,” she explained.
The mother of two has sweet memories of her World Half Marathon record feat, which she lowered twice; posting a new high of 1:05:12 in 2014 and 1:05:09 in 2015 during the Barcelona Half Marathon.
Under the tutelage of Italian marathon coach Renato Canova, Kiplagat says she is on top of her game and optimistic her performance in Gold Coast will be good despite the long period on the sidelines.
She is well remembered to have ended Kenya’s 16-year-old gold drought at the 2009 World Cross-Country Championships in Amman, Jordan before winning the World Half Marathon title in Nanning, China in 2011. Kiplagat is a former footballer, who played at the national school games.