Reigning Paris Marathon champion Judith Korir is hoping to extend Kenya’s dominance in the women's race in Sunday's London Marathon in Great Britain.
The world marathon silver medallist will be up against London Marathon defending champion Joyciline Jepkosgei as they seek to win the country's 7th title in a row.
Competing in her eighth career marathon, Korir said she will try to run her best time ahead of next year’s World Athletics Championships.
“Mine will be simple, I want to run my best time in the 42km race after competing in seven career marathons so far,” said Korir.
Korir was the late entry into the race following the withdrawal of world marathon record holder Brigid Kosgei due to a hip injury that has been nagging her for the last month.
“The initial point was to pace but I was told to complete the race. Who knows this could just be the moment for me," she quipped.
She said she had run at the World Championships last July, where she won silver behind Ethiopia's Gotytom Gebreselase.
“I just competed at the World Championships in July and so I need time to recover. However that will not stop my ambitions of gaining my best time at the race come Sunday,” said Korir.
The athlete, who trains alongside Kosgei at Kapsait Training Camp under Erick Kimaiyo, has a personal best of 2:18.20 set during the World Championships in Eugene, Oregon.
This year, she also won the Paris Marathon as well as Abu Dhabi last year and Belgrade Marathon in 2019. She is also the 2019 Venice Marathon winner.
Despite having high hopes, defending champion Jepkosgei has the best time on paper and will be chasing her third WMM title after victories in New York, London and now London again. Jepkosgei has her personal best time of 2:17.43.
