Kenyan Edna Kiplagat targets top spot at 2022 Boston Marathon: I am not done yet

Kenya's 42-year-old two-time world champion wants a second Boston Marathon title on April 18, and reveals how she balances motherhood with running.

Since winning her Boston Marathon debut in 2017, the Kenyan running star Edna Kiplagat has made the podium of the oldest race twice.

Despite being 42-years-old, the double world champion believes she can finish top of the podium again at the 2022 Boston Marathon on 18 April.

“If everything goes well as per my training and my body responds well, I’m hoping to be on the podium (in Boston) or do even better," Kiplagat said in an exclusive interview with Olympics.Com from her training base in Longmont, Colorado, USA.

“I enjoy running and as a professional athlete I believe running never stops."

But even a podium place isn't a given in a star-studded women's field that also includes reigning Olympic marathon champion Peres Jepchirchir.

Running is a family affair for Kiplagat

Kiplagat remembers exactly when she started running, aged 16.

She is also very clear about when she first donned the Kenyan kit, saying: “I started representing Kenya in 1996 as a junior at the 1996 World (Cross Country) in South Africa."

What she doesn’t know is when she will finally hang up her competition trainers.

“I cannot say when I will stop. I know someday I will, but I am not done for now," she continued.

“I have my kids and other upcoming athletes looking up to me. I want to keep running to be a role model to them, motivate them and then use my experience later to help them in future.”

Kiplagat, who was scouted in high school by Brother Colm O’Connell - the legendary coach who moulded two-time Olympic 800m champion David Rudisha - sights her family as her key inspiration.

She is coached by husband and former runner Gilbert Koech, while her two children, Carlos (17), and Wendy (13), are already mastering distance running in school.

Kiplagat is also among a select group of athletes who have returned to the peak of their careers after giving birth.

“It’s not easy,” she admitted of raising her two biological children (born between 2004 and 2008) and three others that she adopted.

“After training, I have to come home and take care of my family as they are my priority. They need me and I must play my role as a mother.

“I have a great support team - my coach and my training partners, physio, and nutritionist who play an important role in my career. I get ample time to train and be with my family and even for recovery.”

Boston Marathon: A stepping stone to the Worlds and the Olympics

Two-and-a-half decades after her first race, Kiplagat is still runs between 110km - 130km in a week.

The passion and excitement the three-time World Marathon Major winner takes into every race has never wavered.

Last year at Boston she executed an incredible sprint finish to seal second behind Kenyan winner Diana Kipyokei.

“I know the course very well and I have had very good training in the build-up to this. I am expecting a very fast pace as most of the elites have run under 2.20 so they will push the pace from the start and even the course record may be lowered if the weather conditions are favourable,” the London 2012 Olympian said of what she expects to be a “very competitive race”.

Kiplagat has tuned up for her fifth Boston race with a ninth-place finish at the New York City Half Marathon on March 20.

“This was part of my speedwork to see how my body responds after the months of training."

The flame of ambition still burns brightly for Kiplagat, who in 2013 successfully defended her marathon world title.

A second win in Boston will make her only the second Kenyan woman to do so.

The first was 2008 Olympic silver medallist Catherine Ndereba, who clinched four-consecutive Boston titles.

Kiplagat, who finished fourth at the 2019 Worlds in Doha, now hopes to join the elite club of Kenyans who have won 13 of the last 21 Boston Marathon women's titles.

Kiplagat's 26-year career as a long-distance runner

Marathons are a gruelling endeavour that tests body and mind in equal measure.

But Kiplagat who honed her career in Kenyan running's spiritual home of Iten, and that may help explain her unbelievable longevity in the sport.

She is the first able-bodied athlete to record ten top-three finishes in World Marathon Majors New York, London, Boston and Tokyo, and wants to extend her top-flight marathon career - that dates back to 2010 when she won her debut 42km race in Los Angeles - to the Paris 2024 Olympics at least.

“I have been persistent with my routine. I believe in myself and fully trust my coach," she said.

"We have stuck to our plans, strategy on what we want to do and what we expect from each race. I always try to understand what is needed from me and plan how to execute my races on race day.

“I have tried to be consistent in everything I do. I am disciplined and I’m still looking forward to do even better.”

Younger athletes can also pick up valuable experiences from the running trailblazer.

“They need to have a plan for their races to avoid burnout. (They) must also have ample time for recovery, a good build-up and preparation. If you want to keep running for long it also needs a proper plan and patience with yourself.”

posted Wednesday April 13th
by Evelyn Watta