ATAF Editors
Florence Kiplagat received her AIMS World Record Award from the Association of International Marathons and Distance Races on Friday for her half marathon world record of 1:05:09 in March but the Kenyan runner is already thinking about further improvements on that time.
The headline act of the women’s race 2015 Airtel Delhi Half Marathon on Sunday (29 November), Florence Kiplagat commented in the Indian capital: “I am motivated to complete the half marathon in under 65 minutes and am working hard to achieve my career best feat.”
The 2015 Chicago Marathon winner expanded on one of the key factors in her success on the roads around the world.
“Discipline is the key to success at any sport. I wake up at 5am every morning and start training at 6:15am after checking my business emails. I always tell my (two) kids to respect me and I ensure that they have been disciplined from the very beginning of their lives.”
Kiplagat demurred on whether she thinks the world record will fall again in Delhi on Sunday, especially after having won at the Chicago last month and that effort still being in her legs, but another more realistic target might be the women’s course record in Delhi.
The Airtel Delhi Half Marathon women’s course record is held by her compatriot Mary Keitany with 1:06:54 from 2009.
Along with Kiplagat, one of the international stars likely to get the biggest cheers is Uganda’s Moses Kipsiro, who is already a familiar face to Indian athletics fans.
“I am delighted to be back at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium (where the start and finish of the race is located) where I won the 5000m and 10,000m gold medals during the Commonwealth Games in 2010,” said Kipsiro, who has also won world championships medals on the track and at cross country.
“I am motivated by getting new personal bests and other records at running events and look forward to newer records in the current edition of Airtel Delhi Half Marathon.”
The elite men gets underway on Sunday at 0640 local time in Delhi (0110 GMT) with the gun going for the women’s elite race 10 minutes later.
