Mary Jepkosgei Keitany

In January, she placed 21st in her first senior race at the Shoe4Africa 5 kilometre women's race.

She won a silver medal at the World Road Running Championships, finishing second to Lornah Kiplagat who broke the world record.

After a year out due to pregnancy, she returned to competition at the World 10K Bangalore in May.

She set a new personal best but finished one second behind winner Aselefech Mergia.

In September, she won the Lille Half Marathon with a finish time of 1:07:00, which was the seventh fastest of all-time.

This performance qualified her for the World Half Marathon Championships in Birmingham, where she outpaced Aberu Kebede to win her first world championship, set a new personal best of 1:06:36, and broke the championship record.

She won a second gold medal as part of the winning Kenyan squad in the team competition.

Reflecting on the win, she noted, "It's my best ever time, so I'm so happy.... I had a baby just 1 year and 3 months ago."

Her 15 kilometre interval time, 46:51 minutes, was faster than the world record of 46:55 held by Kayoko Fukushi of Japan; however, Keitany's time was not ratified as a new world record because of the lower elevation of the 15 kilometre mark compared to the race start.

Her time was the second fastest ever in the half marathon (after Lornah Kiplagat).

Mary Jepkosgei Keitany (born 18 January 1982) is a Kenyan former professional long distance runner.

The half marathon time was a new African record, with the previous record of 1:06:44 hours set by Elana Meyer of South Africa in 1999.

Keitany also beat the previous Kenyan record of 1:06:48 that she set in Udine two years earlier.

The director of the New York City Marathon, Mary Wittenberg, suggested that she could become a world-beater over the full marathon distance in the coming years.

She won the Abu Dhabi Half Marathon.

She also won the Berlin 25 kilometre race, setting a new world record of 1:19:53 hours.

In 2002, she joined the Hidden Talent Academy.

The previous record was set by Mizuki Noguchi of Japan in 2005.

Keitany finished almost five minutes ahead of runner-up Alice Timbilili.

In preparing for the New York City Marathon, she won the Portugal Half Marathon in Lisbon in September, leading from the front to win largely uncontested in a time of 1:08:46.

In her debut at the New York City Marathon, she was among the leading three for much of the race but faded to finish third in a time of 2:29:01 hours.

Keitany began the year in record-breaking form as she won the Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon with a world record time of 1:05:50 hours.

This marked the first time a woman had run the distance in under 1:06 hours on a non-aided course.

She also set other records along the way, including a world record of 1:02:36 for 20 kilometres and world best times for 8 kilometres and 10 miles.

She then won the London Marathon in a time of 2:19:17, pulling away from the field at the 14-mile mark and becoming the fourth fastest woman ever over the marathon distance.

In September, she won the Portugal Half Marathon for the second time and improved upon her own course record with a winning time of 1:07:54 hours.

She was the pre-race favourite for the New York City Marathon, where she built a significant lead by the halfway point (running at more than four minutes faster than the course record).

She slowed dramatically, however, in the second half of the race and was overtaken by Firehiwot Dado and Buzunesh Deba, leaving her in third place with a finishing time of 2:23:38 hours.

She intended to improve her world record mark at the Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon, but windy conditions slowed her to a finish time of 1:06:49 hours.

At the London Marathon, she broke Catherine Ndereba's African record with a winning time of 2:18:37 hours and became the third fastest woman ever at this distance.

At the Summer Olympics in London, she ran a fast pace among the lead pack until the 41 kilometre mark, where she fell behind to finish fourth.

Her former half marathon best of 1:05:50 (2011) remained the women's world record for three years.

She also has held world bests at 10 miles (50:05 minutes), 20 kilometres (1:02:36), and 25 kilometres (1:19:53), all of which were set in road races.

She announced her pregnancy at the start of 2013 and skipped that year's competitions.

On 2 November, Keitany battled with eventual second-place finisher Jemima Sumgong to win the New York City Marathon in a time of 2:25:07.

She is the world record holder in a women-only marathon, having won the 2017 London Marathon in a time of 2:17:01.

As of November 2022, she placed fifth on the world all-time list at the marathon and eleventh on the respective world all-time list for the half marathon.

In August 2018, she was honored by the Shoe4Africa foundation who funded and built the Mary Keitany Shoe4Africa school in Torokwonin, Baringo County, Kenya.

She and her husband Charles sit on the Shoe4Africa school board.

Born in Kabarnet, Baringo County, Keitany started running while in primary school.