Susan Chepkemei
KENYA
BIRTHDATE:
June 25, 1975
PERSONAL BEST:
2:21:46 (London, 2006)
WORLD MARATHON MAJOR HIGHLIGHTS:
05Nov06 ING New York City Marathon 10th 2:32:45
23Apr06 Flora London Marathon 3rd 2:21:46
06Nov05 ING New York City Marathon 2nd 2:24:55
17Apr05 Flora London Marathon 3rd 2:24:00
07Nov04 ING New York City Marathon 2nd 2:23:13
02Nov03 ING New York City Marathon 7th 2:29:05
13Apr03 Flora London Marathon 4th 2:23:12
14Apr02 Flora London Marathon 5th 2:23:19
04Nov01 New York City Marathon 2nd 2:25:12
20Sep98 Alberto Berlin Marathon 2nd 2:28:19
CAREER NOTES:
Until her epic tussle with Paula Radcliffe in New York in November 2004, Chepkemei’s main claim to fame was as a former holder of the world’s fastest half marathon time of 1:05:44 in 2001, albeit on the slightly downhill Lisbon course. She also won the silver medal at the IAAF World Half-Marathon Championships three years in a row, 2000-02 and the bronze in 2005.
Now she is acknowledged as one of the finest, most consistent marathon runners in the world. Her strong, 2:21:46 performance to place third in London in 2006 is evidence of her maturing athleticism.
In her first four marathons she had a win and three second-place finishes in Berlin, Rotterdam and New York City. She was successively fifth, third and fourth in the World Cross Country Championships long course 1999-2001 and took three successive silver medals in the World Half Marathon 2000-02 (behind Radcliffe in the first two years), while in 2001 she won the Great North Run in 1:08:40. She improved her marathon time to 2:23:19 for fifth in London in 2002, a year in which at 10,000m she took the silver medal in the Commonwealth Games (in a PR 31:32.04) and won the African title.
When Radcliffe set her stunning world record of 2:15:25 in London 2003, Chepkemei trimmed her best to 2:23:12 for fourth place after reaching the halfway mark in 1:09:30. She was second in New York in 2004 and 2005 and continued to run successfully in the half marathon, including wins at Lisbon in both years and third in the 2004 Great North Run and 2005 World Championships.
On the track Chepkemei won the 10,000m silver medal at the 2002 Commonwealth Games and was the Kenyan 10,000 champion in 2001-02.
HIGHLIGHTS:
22Apr01 Rotterdam Marathon 1st 2:25:45
18Apr99 Rotterdam Marathon 2nd 2:26:38
