World half marathon record holder Joyciline Jepkosgei says she will be ready for a full marathon debut

World half marathon record holder Joyciline Jepkosgei says she will be ready for a full marathon debut, probably in December. Jepkosgei, who has had injury trouble since her world half-marathon record of 64:51 in Valencia last October, believes she still has more to do to return to her top performance and believes venturing into full marathon is her next target. "My coach is preparing me for a marathon. He told me that I will go for training and then he will see how my body is. It might be end of this year or next year," said the 25-year-old on Tuesday. "China marathons are good, though I have no particular race I have lined up now. But I know it will be good to test myself there." Shanghai Marathon in November might be too soon for the Kenyan star. However, there is a possibility of her running at the Xiamen Marathon in January if her management gets an invite from the organizers. Jepkosgei was third in 68:10 at last week's Great North Run in Newcastle, England, her third race this year. Injury concerns have limited the Kenyan participation in international competition, but she believes she is getting better. In May, Jepkosgei was second at the Manchester 10km run behind Ethiopia's Tirunesh Dibaba. Meanwhile, London Marathon silver medalist Brigit Kosgei is intensifying her training ahead of her race in Chicago in October. However, the Kenyan has injury concerns after she pulled a hamstring problem in Newcastle in the last stages of the 21km Great North Run.

posted Tuesday September 11th