7. Ruth Chepngetich
Kenyan road racing sensation Ruth Chepngetich is on the 7th spot of our list for her exploits this year. Although she raced only thrice in 2021, one of which was a DNF at the Olympics in Tokyo, she gained victories in the two other races, setting a new World Half Marathon Record of 1:04.02 to win the N. Kolay Istanbul Half Marathon. She also dominated the Chicago Marathon where she clocked 2:22.31 to win the women’s title.
The 2019 World Champion was in blistering form this year and was in action at the Nagoya Women’s Marathon in Japan, which is the largest women-only marathon and the only women-only marathon with a World Athletics Platinum label. Chepngetich stormed to the second fastest ever women-only marathon time and Course Record of 2:17.18 to win a mouth-watering cash prize of $250,000 – currently the largest 1st place prize money in marathon running.
Chepngetich had been targeting her own Personal Best (PB) of 2:17:08, run in a mixed race in Dubai in 2019, and achieving that would have taken her very close to her compatriot Mary Keitany’s women-only marathon world record of 2:17:01 set in London in 2017.
The 28-year-old thereafter ran the 5,000m/10,000m double at the Kenyan Prison Championships in April and dominated both races in 15:26.70 and 31:55.47 respectively. A couple of weeks later she won the 10,000m at the Kenyan Championships with a new PB of 31:47.9.
Half the race still to go, but a lot has happened in the last few kilometres of this #WorldAthleticsChamps women's marathon.
2019 champion Ruth Chepngetich 🇰🇪 drops out at 18km with stomach issues – Ababel Yeshaneh 🇪🇹leads a pack of four through the halfway mark in 1:09:01. pic.twitter.com/R82P5EhqaK
— World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) July 18, 2022
In May, Chepngetich raced in the 10km at the Great Manchester Run where she placed 3rd in 30.29. She moved on to the World Championships in Oregon but unfortunately failed to retain her title from Doha as she DNF, having to pull out of the race due to stomach problems after 18km.
In October, the Kenyan successfully defended her Chicago title at the 2022 Chicago Marathon with a spectacular time of 2:14:18, a World Lead (WL) and PB by almost three minutes, the second-fastest marathon time in history, and just 14s outside of compatriot Brigid Kosgei’s World Record (WR) of 2:14:04. Chepngetich’s win made her the first woman in history to break the 2:18-barrier on three separate occasions.
Kenyan distance runner Ruth Chepngetich wins the Chicago Marathon women's title.
Her time of 2:14:18 is the second fastest women's marathon time ever! pic.twitter.com/xupWcFPUdE
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) October 9, 2022
The long distance runner capped off her inspiring season with a 3rd place finish at the Jeddah Half Marathon with a time of 1:07.53. She is ranked No.2 in the women’s marathon in 2022, with only Ethiopia’s Gotytom Gebreslase being ahead of her.
