Rita Jeptoo
Encyclopedia
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
n marathon runner. She won the 2006 Boston Marathon
Boston Marathon
The Boston Marathon is an annual marathon hosted by the U.S. city of Boston, Massachusetts, on Patriots' Day, the third Monday of April. Begun in 1897 and inspired by the success of the first modern-day marathon competition in the 1896 Summer Olympics, the Boston Marathon is the world's oldest...
, setting her personal best of 2:23:38 hours. She has also won marathons in Stockholm and Milan, as well as having represented Kenya in the event at the 2007 World Championships in Athletics
2007 World Championships in Athletics
The 11th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations , were held at Nagai Stadium in Osaka, Japan from 24 August to 2 September 2007...
. She was the bronze medallist at the 2006 IAAF World Road Running Championships
2006 IAAF World Road Running Championships
The 1st IAAF World Road Running Championships were held in Debrecen, Hungary on 8 October 2006, the women's race starting at 11:00 and the men's race at 13:00. This was the first time the title of World Road Running Champion had been competed for, with this competition replacing the IAAF World Half...
.
Career
Jeptoo won the 2004 Stockholm MarathonStockholm Marathon
The Stockholm Marathon, known as the ASICS Stockholm Marathon for sponsorship reasons, is an annual marathon arranged in Stockholm, Sweden since 1979. It serves as the Swedish marathon championship race...
, her first marathon race, and then took a consecutive victory at the Milan Marathon
Milan Marathon
The Milano City Marathon is a marathon race held every April in Milan, Italy. It was first organised in 2000 by the Milano City Marathon Club and the first nine editions were held in November....
. She finished third in the 2005 Turin Marathon
Turin Marathon
The Turin Marathon is an annual marathon race which takes place in Turin, Italy in November. The first edition of the modern race was held in 1987, although other marathon competitions have been held in the city prior to this, including sporadic races in the 1970s and early 1980s, and the earliest...
and seventh at the 2005 World Championships
2005 World Championships in Athletics - Women's Marathon
The Women's Marathon race at the 2005 World Championships in Athletics was held on 14 August in the streets of Helsinki with the goal line situated in the Helsinki Olympic Stadium. Paula Radcliffe set the pace of the race, leading all the way from start to finish...
. The next year she competed over shorter distances, taking the title at the Paris Half Marathon
Paris Half Marathon
Paris Half Marathon is an annual half marathon held every March in Paris, France. It currently holds IAAF Bronze Label status....
and winning the bronze medal
Bronze medal
A bronze medal is a medal awarded to the third place finisher of contests such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The practice of awarding bronze third place medals began at the 1904 Olympic Games in St...
at the 2006 World Road Running Championships
2006 IAAF World Road Running Championships
The 1st IAAF World Road Running Championships were held in Debrecen, Hungary on 8 October 2006, the women's race starting at 11:00 and the men's race at 13:00. This was the first time the title of World Road Running Champion had been competed for, with this competition replacing the IAAF World Half...
.
Her personal best time of 2:23:38 hours came at the 2006 Boston Marathon
Boston Marathon
The Boston Marathon is an annual marathon hosted by the U.S. city of Boston, Massachusetts, on Patriots' Day, the third Monday of April. Begun in 1897 and inspired by the success of the first modern-day marathon competition in the 1896 Summer Olympics, the Boston Marathon is the world's oldest...
, where she defeated all comers to win the prestigious race. She was fourth at the New York City Marathon
New York City Marathon
The New York City Marathon is a major annual marathon that courses through the five boroughs of New York City. It is one of the largest marathons in the world, with 45,103 finishers in 2010...
that same year. In 2007, she finished fourth in Boston, attempting to defend her title, and was quoted as saying, "I never felt good in the cold. I couldn't get my body in a rhythm." She won the Lisbon Half Marathon
Lisbon Half Marathon
First held in 1991, the race has consistently delivered fast winning times. However, many of these times have been unratifiable for record purposes due to factors including: the course being too short , excessive tailwinds, as well as there being an excessive drop in altitude, which boosted...
and Paris Half Marathon
Paris Half Marathon
Paris Half Marathon is an annual half marathon held every March in Paris, France. It currently holds IAAF Bronze Label status....
that year, later going on to take seventh place in the marathon at the 2007 World Championships in Athletics
2007 World Championships in Athletics
The 11th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations , were held at Nagai Stadium in Osaka, Japan from 24 August to 2 September 2007...
. She ended her 2007 with a new course record at the Obudu Ranch International Mountain Race
Obudu Ranch International Mountain Race
The Obudu Ranch International Mountain Race is an annual 11.25 km mountain running competition that takes place in late November in Obudu, Cross River State, Nigeria. First held in 2005, it has the largest total prize-money available of any mountain race and is known as "the world's richest...
, earning US$50,000 as a result.
She won the Portugal Half Marathon
Portugal Half Marathon
Portugal Half Marathon is an annual half marathon contested every September in Lisbon, Portugal.A new, faster course was established for the race in 2010 and 25 km record holder Mary Keitany duly responded by setting a women's course record of 1:08:46...
in 2008. She was among the leading runners at the Boston and New York marathons that season, finishing third and fourth respectively. She took time off from running for maternity leave from late 2008 onwards, returning to competition in 2011. The Rotterdam Marathon
Rotterdam Marathon
The Rotterdam Marathon is an annual marathon that has been held in Rotterdam, the Netherlands since 1981. It has been held in April of every year since the third edition in 1984, and attracts many top athletes. It has also been ranked as one of the top 10 marathons in the world by Runner's World...
was her return marathon outing and she came fifth with a time of 2:28:09 hours.
She is married to Noah Busienei, a middle distance runner.
Achievements
| Representing | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Stockholm Marathon Stockholm Marathon The Stockholm Marathon, known as the ASICS Stockholm Marathon for sponsorship reasons, is an annual marathon arranged in Stockholm, Sweden since 1979. It serves as the Swedish marathon championship race... |
Stockholm, Sweden | 1st | Marathon | 2:35:14 |
| Milan Marathon Milan Marathon The Milano City Marathon is a marathon race held every April in Milan, Italy. It was first organised in 2000 by the Milano City Marathon Club and the first nine editions were held in November.... |
Milan, Italy | 1st | Marathon | 2:28:11 | |
| 2005 | World Championships 2005 World Championships in Athletics The 10th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations , were held in the Olympic Stadium, Helsinki, Finland , the site of the first IAAF World Championships in 1983. One theme of the 2005 championships was paralympic sports, some of... |
Helsinki, Finland | 7th | Marathon | 2:24:22 |
| 2006 | Paris Half Marathon Paris Half Marathon Paris Half Marathon is an annual half marathon held every March in Paris, France. It currently holds IAAF Bronze Label status.... |
Paris, France | 1st | Half marathon | 1:09:56 |
| Boston Marathon Boston Marathon The Boston Marathon is an annual marathon hosted by the U.S. city of Boston, Massachusetts, on Patriots' Day, the third Monday of April. Begun in 1897 and inspired by the success of the first modern-day marathon competition in the 1896 Summer Olympics, the Boston Marathon is the world's oldest... |
Boston, United States | 1st | Marathon | 2:23:38 | |
| 2007 | Lisbon Half Marathon Lisbon Half Marathon First held in 1991, the race has consistently delivered fast winning times. However, many of these times have been unratifiable for record purposes due to factors including: the course being too short , excessive tailwinds, as well as there being an excessive drop in altitude, which boosted... |
Lisbon, Portugal | 1st | Half marathon | 1:07:05 |