Peres Jepchirchir out to end season on high

Olympics marathon champion Peres Jepchirchir looks forward to ending the season in style at the New York Marathon on Sunday.

Jepchirchir, who beat world record holder Brigid Kosgei to win the marathon race at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, will make her debut in the Abott Marathon Majors race.

Last year, Jepchirchir joined the trio of Tegla Loroupe, Paula Radcliffe and Lornah Kiplagat as the only women to have won more than one half marathon world title following her exploits in 2016 Cardiff and 2020 Gdynia.

All eyes will be on her. Her personal best marathon time of 2 hours,17.16 seconds in 2020 from Valencia is the fastest in New York City Marathon field.

“This will be my first major marathon race and I’m  looking forward to doing well. My friend  (2019 race winner Joyciline) Jepkosgei gave me a few tips which will hopefully help in the race,” she told Nation Sport early this week.

She tweaked her training in Kapsabet, Nandi County to suit the reaction of her body.

“After Olympics marathon in Sapporo where we competed in high temperatures, I rested for about three weeks before resuming training, and it has been a good session though short,” the 2020 Valencia Marathon champion said.

Last year, she won both the Prague Half Marathon as well as the World half Marathon Championships in Gdynia, Poland.

She later lined up for the Valencia Marathon which she won in a personal best 2:17:16.

Jepchirchir will be up against Namibia’s four-time Olympian and 2019 World Championships bronze medalist Helalia Johannes who finished 11th at the Olympics, and Ethiopia’s Ruti Aga, who won the Tokyo Marathon and finished third at the New York City Marathon in 2019.

Ethiopia’s 2019 Chicago Marathon runner-up Ababel Yeshaneh and Kenya’s Viola Lagat, who is making her debut over the distance, will also be fighting for the top honours.

Also in the field is the 2012 Olympic 10,000m silver medalist Sally Kipyego.