Kenyan Shamilah Kipsiror fires warning shots ahead of Valencia Half Marathon

She believes her win in Nigeria is a morale booster ahead of her fifth Half Marathon this season.

After her victory at the Lotus Bank Abeotuka 10km race in Ogun state, Nigeria, Shamilah Kipsiror has her focus shifted to the Valencia Half Marathon scheduled for October.

The 36-year-old clocked a time of 32:22 to win the race in Nigeria and she believes her win is a morale booster ahead of her fifth Half Marathon this season.

Speaking to ACL Sports, she said the 10km race in Nigeria placed her in a better shape as she gears up to lock horns with some of the other great long-distance runners including compatriot Margaret Chelimo and Ethiopia’s Gotytom Gebreslase.

“I am preparing for the Half Marathon in Spain next October and I hope to emerge the winner.

I came to Nigeria for the 10km Race in order to maintain my current form and have a better time. I strongly believe that impossible is nothing,” she said.

She also expressed her excitement in winning the race adding that she had it easy since there were no strong opponents.

“I feel excited to win the women’s category of the Lotus Bank Abeokuta 10km Race and the road race was nice.

I had no challenger in the race; I took charge of the race in the last 7km and maintained my top speed,” she said.

Kipsiror has had a pretty great season so far this year and she managed to run a Personal Best (PB) of 1:07:53 at the Gent Half Marathon where she was debuting. 

She also competed at the Istanbul Half Marathon where she finished ninth. She also competed at the Nationale-Nederlanden Warsaw Half Marathon and finished fifth before completing the podium at the OMV Petrom Bucharest Half Marathon. 

posted Tuesday September 12th
by Abigael Wuafula