Jepkosgei's marathon dreams still burn bright

Joyciline Jepkosgei had not initially planned to make the daunting step up to the marathon late last year. However, it was a leap of faith that paid off spectacularly.

Illness, poor form and injury had delayed her promotion to the "ultimate distance". So it came as some surprise both to her and her critics when, after tentatively entering the New York City Marathon, she crossed the Central Park finish line first.

Jepkosgei won in 2:22:38, seven seconds off compatriot Margaret Okayo's course record, set in 2003.

"I was not expecting to win in New York, based on the high-profile athletes that I was running against, especially my village mate Mary Keitany," Jepkosgei told Xinhua on Monday from Iten, her training base.

The flying start to her marathon career, however, would soon be abruptly stopped in its tracks by the COVID-19 pandemic.

She had planned to compete at the Africa Cross Country Championships in Lome, Togo, in March as part of her preparations for the London Marathon in April. But both events were postponed until 2021 as part of athletics' mass global shutdown.

"At first, I thought it was going to be a short time and we would return to action by June," said Jepkosgei. "Then we saw governments closing down, movement within and outside the country was restricted and all hope was dashed and we had to isolate even in training at home. Then our training camps were shut down and we had to retreat back to our homes to avoid catching the virus."

All the while, Jepkosgei, who holds the half marathon (1:04:51) and 10-kilometer (29:43) world records, had held out hope of defending her NYC title in November. Ultimately, though, that also fell victim to the pandemic.

"I was preparing for another good run to defend my title in New York. I had turned down a chance to compete at the World Half Marathon Championships in Poland so as to focus on the London and New York marathons, but both will not be held as planned in 2020."

In the longer term, Jepkosgei dreams of one day leading Kenya to an Olympic gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

"For me, I take the cancellations of marathon races positively knowing that there will always be another chance to excel, to showcase my talent and to work on my career performances," she said. "A chance will always come when we will return to competition post-COVID-19 and that is why I keep on training. To be ready when called upon to compete again."

And while Jepkosgei rates 2019 as her best season, she is confident her best is yet to come.

"Past records are just that, they lay in the past. I look forward to the future and want to do well," she said.

Jepkosgei's NYC win saw her become the race's youngest women's champion since 2001. She is the first woman to triumph on her debut since Kenya's Tegla Loroupe in 1994, while her winning time was the fastest clocked by a female debutant in the event's history.

It is with good reason, therefore, that she is relishing to returning to the next edition of the race－planned for Nov 7, 2021.

For now, she is just happy to run without any specific targets in mind.

"I have scaled down my training because I love running. I always want to be in my best shape," she said."For now, there is no inspiration to train hard for competition, but for the love of sport, I have to continue doing what I love, running."