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2019 Boston Marathon - The International Women
Mary (Wacera) Ngugi |
Edna Kiplagat |
Worknesh Degefa |
The 2019 Boston Marathon crop of female athletes includes some who have posted fantastic times at the Dubai Marathon (as always!), those who have been on the scene "forever" (like 40-year old Edna Kiplagat) and marathon debutantes. Here are some to watch:
Photo Credit: Victah Sailer
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Mary (Wacera) Ngugi
Country: Kenya
PB: Debut
Boston Best: Debut
Two-time victor at the BAA Half Marathon, Mary Ngugi, a 3,000m and 5,000m specialist, makes her marathon debut this year in Boston. Early in her career, Ngugi earned bronze medals honors in 5,000m event at the 2006 World Junior Championships; she followed this with the African Junior Championship in the same event in 2007. Following a successful African and European track career, Ngugi took some time away from competition due to personal issues, returning on the roads in 2012 with a 1:10:54 victory at the Semi Marathon St. Denis. After a handful of podium placements in 2013, Ngugi took the silver medal at the 2014 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships in Denmark (1:07:44) and wins at both the Cherry Blossom 10-Miler and BAA Half Marathon in 2015.
Ngugi ran her Half Marathon personal best (1:06:29) en route to her 2016 victory at the Aramco Houston Half Marathon, establishing a U.S. soil record in the process. She later that year took bronze medal honors at the IAAF World Half Marathon Championships (1:07:54), followed by at third place finish at the Aramco Houston Half Marathon (1:08:38) in early 2017. Ngugi would take yet another third in Houston in 2018 yet significantly improve her time over the previous year (1:06:50); in 2019, she ran a disappointing 1:09:33 in Houston, yet rebounded for a second-place finish at the United Airlines New York City Half Marathon (1:11:07) in March.
Photo Credit: Victah Sailer
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Edna Kiplagat
Country: Kenya
PB: 2:19:50, 2012 Virgin London Marathon
Boston Best: 2:21:52, 2017 Boston Marathon (Champion)
Edna Kiplagat, 2017 Boston Marathon champion and the third fastest woman in the 2019 field, enters the 2019 event following her second-best career marathon last fall. Kiplagat, who ran her personal best 2:19:50 at the 2012 Virgin London Marathon, has continued to consistently run 2:21 to 2:22 finish times, remaining a familiar face on the podium late in her career. A force on the World Marathon Majors circuit for nearly a decade now, Kiplagat has run a career 21 marathons, among those six wins: the 2017 Boston Marathon; 2014 Virgin London Marathon (2:20:21); 2013 IAAF World Championship Marathon in Moscow (2:25:44); 2011 IAAF World Championship Marathon in Daegu (2:28:43); and the 2010 TCS New York City (2:28:20) and Los Angeles (2:25:38) marathons. Kiplagat holds an additional six podium placements at World Marathon Majors events and is a three-time winner of the series; she has finished in the top ten at all but two of her events.
Though approaching her 40th birthday, Kiplagat has run many of her most successful marathons since 2016, including a third-place finish at the 2016 Tokyo Marathon (2:22:36) and a second-place finish at the 2016 Bank of America Chicago Marathon (2:23:28); her 2017 Boston Marathon victory followed by her second-place finish at the 2017 IAAF World Championship Marathon in London (2:27:18); and her top-10 finish at an extremely challenging 2018 Boston Marathon. And, while Kiplagat finished just one spot off the podium in her most recent marathon, the 2018 BMW Berlin Marathon, she there ran her career third-fastest time, 2:21:18, proving definitively that she remains at the top of her game. She has stated in recent interviews that she is pleased with her training cycle, running for the title, and beginning to look ahead to the 2020 Olympics.
Photo Credit: Victah Sailer
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Worknesh Degefa
Country: Ethiopia
PB: 2:17:41, 2019 Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon
Boston Best: Debut
Worknesh Degefa enters her debut Boston Marathon as a newcomer, the fourth fastest female marathon runner in the world, and the fastest woman in the 2019 field. Her personal best, set just three months ago in Dubai, was an Ethiopian national record and followed two previous performances at the same event.
Degefa focused exclusively on the Half Marathon distance between 2014 and 2016, during which time she amassed a series of victories on the European circuit, running a personal best of 1:06:14 for the distance and consistently finishing in the 1:07 - 1:08 range. In 2017, Degefa ran her debut marathon in Dubai, winning the event in 2:22:36. She would lower this time by more than two minutes in 2018, running 2:19:53 at the same event; this year, she lowered it by more than two minutes again while running her PR. While new to the distance, Degefa is clearly a force to be reckoned with and a likely frontrunner for the crown; she will, however, need to prepare carefully to attack the unfamiliar Boston hills against more experienced Boston competitors like Kiplagat, Linden and Hasay.
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