Lornah Kiplagat (Runner)

on Saturday, 02 March 2013.

Lornah Kiplagat’s running career was born out of necessity.

When the chore of milking her father’s cattle made her late, she ran the 14 miles to school to get there on time.

She has since gone on to become one of the world’s fastest women. Originally Kenyan, and now a Dutch citizen, she is an accomplished long-distance road, cross country and track and field runner.

Kiplagat currently holds world records at several distances (5 kilometer, 10 mile and 20 kilometer), and has an enviable catalog of international running triumphs including the distinction of being the first woman to have won both the world-renowned Falmouth and Peachtree Road Races in the same year. She did so for three consecutive years (2000, 2001, and 2002).

She competed for the Netherlands at the Olympic Winter Games in 2004 and 2008, and intends to compete again in 2012. In 2006 and 2007 she was the AIMS World Athlete of the Year.

Lornah is also know because of what she is doing outside the sport of running. She is the founder of the Lornah Kiplagat Foundation, ambassador of the Mininstry of Developement in the Netherlands and ambassador of the Jeugd sport funds in the Netherlands.

Additionally, Kiplagat is the founder of the High Altitude Training Center located in Iten, Kenya. She established the Center in 1999 to provide young, talented Kenyan female athletes with the opportunity to build a professional sports career through training and education

Related links:
High Altitude Training Center
Lornah Kiplagat on Wikipedia