Kenyan-born Dutch distance runner Lornah Kiplagat was a master of the Half

No distance defines Lornah Kiplagat quite like the half marathon. Born in Kenya, Kiplagat quickly developed an impressive road-running reputation with several international half marathon victories before making her IAAF World Half Marathon Championships debut in 1998 in Uster, Switzerland aged just 24. She was also among the favorites, having triumphed at the Rotterdam Marathon earlier that year. Yet in torrid wet conditions in Alberta, she suffered a nagging hamstring cramp... “I didn’t have a lot of fun,” she recalls of the 2005 edition. “It was raining for most of the race, I couldn’t get warm and I felt cold for the entire run. My hamstring cramped very early in the race but I didn’t want to drop out; I hoped to manage the problem.” To that end, Kiplagat was successful. She took the silver medal in a tight battle. “The fact I was able to manage my hamstring during the race and could still sprint to silver in the later stages was a good sign for me,” she says.

posted Tuesday March 20th