The army girl who’s off to explore higher ground
Joyce Njeru in action at the Montee du Nid d’Aigle in France on July 16, 2022.
What you need to know:
- Joyce Njeru’s first major race was the Henry Wanyoike Foundation Run in 2007 but she has been running competitively since 2016.
- She has ran 31 mountain races since winning the Gernkogel Mountain run in Austria on her debut in 2017.
- She is the first-born in a family of five, and trains at the Longonot Hills located 2400m above sea level. Athletes sleep in the camp and have access to healthy meals and training under Austrian coach Thomas Krejci.
- Her team is called Run2gether, and it consists of 40 Kenyan professional athletes and over 100 amateur runners who train together in Austria and Kenya.
Mountain running is one of the fastest growing sports disciplines in Kenya. And one of the stars putting Kenya on the world map in this field is Joyce Muthoni Njeru. In mountain running, athletes mainly compete in off-road mountainous terrain, but if there is significant elevation on the route, surfaced roads may be used. It is a mixture of running, jogging and walking, depending on how steep the trail is.
The sport is recognised by World Athletics and governed by the World Mountain Running Association. Lucy Wambui was Kenya’s pioneer in that field, and she won two world championship titles in 2018 and 2019. Joyce is taking over.
“Lucy is my role model. She has been my mental, emotional and spiritual guide,” Joyce, 25, says. Her love for running started at the age of 12 at Gatune primary school in Kikuyu.
“My first competition was the Henry Wanyoike Foundation Run in 2007. I ran the five-kilometre race and won it,” notes the alumna of Baari Secondary School in Nyahururu.
Njeru joined Mutual Fair Exchanges (MFAE) Athletics Club in 2012 under coach Francis Kamau. She competed for the first time in a mountain run in 2017, winning the Gernkogel Mountain Run in Austria.
“That was not a big race but the experience I got helped me gain confidence to get into bigger races.”
Some of the challenges that Joyce encountered include injuries and, sometimes, lack of financial support. “But these challenges have made me stronger,” observes the athlete whose nickname is Mnaii.
Joyce has also tried her hands in track events, and competed in 3,000m races, 3,000m steeplechase, 5,000m and 10,000m as well as cross country and half marathons. She ran 13 mountain races between 2017 and 2018, but her major breakthrough came in 2021. She won the WMRA Mountain Running World Cup overall title after shining throughout the season where she ran eight races.
“The 2021 Grossglockner Berglauf in Austria was and is still my favourite race. It is 13km long with the last three kilometres being stair-like. Everybody says that course is very tough, but I like doing what people think is hard to prove them wrong. I registered for the event, kept a positive mind and won it last year!” discloses Joyce.
“My mother was once a runner but she didn't get the necessary support. She has supported and motivated me from the onset. She used to take me to competitions from a young age,” recalls Joyce.
Through mountain running, Joyce has managed to attain financial independence, and support her family in various ways.
“My secret for success is staying focused on my goals, being ambitious and including God in everything I do.”
Apart from running, Joyce is an army officer based at Kahawa Barracks in Nairobi. She is also into farming. Her vision is to become one of the strongest mountain runners in Kenya.
