Lornah Kiplagat
NETHERLANDS
BIRTHDATE:
March 20, 1974
PERSONAL BEST:
2:22:22 (Osaka, 2003)
WORLD MARATHON MAJOR HIGHLIGHTS:
22Apr07 Flora London Marathon 5th 2:24:46
05Nov06 ING New York City Marathon 8th 2:32:31
06Nov05 ING New York City Marathon 10th 2:28:28
07Nov04 ING New York City Marathon 7th 2:28:21
02Nov03 ING New York City Marathon 3rd 2:23:43
03Nov02 New York City Marathon 7th 2:28:41
16Apr01 Boston Marathon 4th 2:27:56
22Oct00 The LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon 2nd 2:22:36
17Apr00 Boston Marathon 5th 2:30:12
19Oct97 The LaSalle Banks Chicago Marathon 10th 2:39:13
ADDITIONAL CAREER HIGHLIGHTS:
10Apr05 Fortis Rotterdam Marathon 1st 2:27:36
26Jan03 Osaka International Ladies Marathon 4th 2:22:22
27Jan02 Osaka International Ladies Marathon 1st 2:23:55
17Oct99 Delta Lloyd Amsterdam Marathon 1st 2:25:30
29Mar98 City of Los Angeles Marathon 1st 2:34:03
02Mar97 City of Los Angeles Marathon 1st 2:33:49
CAREER NOTES:
Arguably the greatest all-around road racer in history, Kiplagat has won more than 70 road races around the world in her career. Among them are the Britannic Women's 10K (seven times), Peachtree Road Race 10K (five times), World's Best 10K (four times), Falmouth Road Race 7-Mile (four times), New York Mini 10K (three times), Berlin 25K (twice) and the Beach to Beacon 10K.
Her 2006 season was one of her best. In April, she picked up her first-ever medal at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships with a silver in the long course race. The highlight of the year, however, was her gold-medal at the IAAF World Road Running Championships 20K in 1:03:21, breaking Paula Radcliffe's World Record for that distance. Three weeks earlier Kiplagat won the Dam to Damloop 10 miles in a world best time of 50:50, taking four seconds from her previous WB set there in 2002. In 2006 she also had wins at the World's Best 10K (30:50) Circle of Friends 10K (31:27), Steamboat Classic 4-Mile (19:43) and Peachtree Road Race 10K (31:13).
In 2007 she added two more highlights to her star-studded career. In March she claimed victory in the IAAF World Cross Country Championships in her original home country of Kenya. Then at Udine, Italy in October she smashed the world record for the half-marathon by 19 seconds, winning the IAAF World Road Running Championships in 1:06:25. En route she also lowered her own 20-km world record to 1:02:57.
Kiplagat began her marathon career with a victory at the 1997 City of Los Angeles Marathon and defended that title a year later. She has also picked up wins at the Amsterdam Marathon (1999), Osaka International Ladies Marathon (2002) and the Rotterdam Marathon (2005). She ran the New York City marathon every year from 2002-2006 and placed in the top 10 all five times. She was also fifth at the 2007 Flora London Marathon.
PERSONAL NOTES:
Kiplagat was born in Kabeimit, Kenya and became a Dutch citizen on July 23, 2003. Her husband, Pieter Langerhorst, serves as her manager and coach. She is known as “Simba” (lion in Swahili) for her ferocious training but gentle demeanor, and she uses her prize money winnings to help fund her High Altitude Training Center for young athletes near Iten, Kenya.
