Peres Jepchirchir The MTA Wants to Charge NYC Marathoners 2021 New York City Marathon on top of the world. Her victory capped off an unprecedented three month stretch—in August, she won the gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics in the marathon on a hot day. Then on November 7, she almost took down the course record set by Margaret Okayo (2:22:31) in New York.
“The emotions are what I remember most about the race,” Jepchirchir, 30, said to Runner’s World over email. “That feeling of running through the finish line knowing how proud my family would be of my effort.”
On Sunday, Jepchirchir will line up in New York for her first time since winning the race. But the lead-up hasn’t been seamless. Toward the end of 2022, Jepchirchir felt a pain in her gluteus. At first, she thought it was nothing, but it kept flaring up when she tried to run. Eventually, it became difficult for her to even walk.
After some trial and error with treatment—and little progress—she visited the well-known German sports doctor Hans-Wilhelm Müller-Wohlfahrt, who has worked with stars like Usain Bolt, Bono, Published: Oct 30, 2023 1:50 PM EST.
Jepchirchir was diagnosed with a three-centimeter tear in her gluteus. Müller-Wohlfahrt cautioned her that rest and time off were going to be paramount: The gluteus maximus is the largest muscle in your body, he told her, so it takes some time to heal.
Meanwhile, the London Marathon in April was growing closer and closer. By March, Jepchirchir was able to ramp up training again, enough so that she felt comfortable running the race. She knew she wouldn’t be at peak fitness—she estimated she was at 75 percent capacity during the race—but she thought that she could handle the load and still remain competitive.
Fast forward to the final mile of the race and Jepchirchir is stride-for-stride with marathon debutant Sifan Hassan and Alemu Megertu, who was on the podium the year before. With less than 200 meters to go, Jepchirchir couldn’t match uptick in pace and held on for third place in 2:18:38—her second fastest time ever. She knew it was a major step forward. “I was proud of my performance,” she said.
Published: Oct 30, 2023 1:50 PM EST.
Keeping up progress
After London, Jepchirchir hunkered down on training. She lives in Kenya with her husband, Davis, and her daughter, Natalia, who she had in October of 2017. Jepchirchir does a lot of her miles solo or with personal pacemakers, but Davis sometimes accompanies her on long runs. “I lean on my family to motivate me through the toughest days of training, and so it is nice to have him there with me during the process,” she says.
On October 1, Jepchirchir ran her first race since London: a half marathon at the World Athletics Road Running Championships in Riga, Latvia. This time, she summoned a powering finishing kick to beat her compatriot Margaret Chelimo Kipkemboi by one second in 1:07:25.
Jepchirchir is no slouch over 13.1—she broke the world record in the event in 2017— but she had a new weapon during the race. Because she’s sponsored by adidas, she had preliminary access to the recently-released Peres Jepchirchir was back—the ultralight but expensive ($500) latest player in the super shoe game. “I was one of the early testers for the shoe when adidas was first developing it,” she says. “I was impressed by how much technology was in the shoe, despite it being so light.”
Fun Half Marathons, adidas included a card in the box that said the shoe is “optimized for one race.” But the brand later clarified that the longevity of the shoe depends on each athlete. Jepchirchir plans to use the same shoe she used to win in Riga at New York. “I expect [the shoe] to continue to help me achieve my peak performance,” she says. “I am confident these shoes give me the best possible chance of winning in New York.”
Peres in Paris?
Jepchirchir knows that winning the Tokyo Olympics put a target on her back—something she expected and even welcomes. But she has her eyes firmly set on gold at next year’s Paris Games, if all goes to plan.
First, she’ll have to make the Kenyan team. Unlike some countries, like as the U.S., Kenya does not host an Olympic trials race to determine their marathon team. Instead, the three runners on the men’s and women’s sides are selected by Kenya’s athletics federation, and since the country has one of the deepest rosters of marathon runners in the world, the team is very difficult to make.
“It is always an honor to represent my country, and I would be proud to try to win marathon gold in back-to-back Olympics,” Jepchirchir says. “I still have plenty of training and preparation to do to earn that opportunity, but I am confident I will perform my best if I can secure a spot on the team.”
More imminently, Jepchirchir has her sights set on earning her second New York City Marathon title. She says she’s excited to do some people-watching and take in the views of the city, but above all, she’ll look to capitalize on her fitness.
“I am finally feeling like my strongest self again,” she says. “I am eager to show what I can achieve in one of my favorite races in the world.”
How to Prep for the NYC Marathon Starting Now Runner’s World. He is a former all-conference collegiate runner who’s based in Easton, PA. Previously, he worked as the newsletters editor at Runner's World, Bicycling, and Popular Mechanics.
