Kenya's Cheruiyot targets improvement after debut marathon win

For all her success on the track, Olympic 5,000 metre champion Vivian Cheruiyot showed humility after winning her first marathon but missed the course record in Frankfurt by saying there is room for her to improve.

At 34, there is everything for the Kenyan runner to prove after transiting from track to marathon and while strong winds in the latter stages of the race slowed her pace, Cheruiyot was humble to accept the challenges of her new career, reports Xinhua news agency.

"Winning boosted my confidence. It was very windy. My body is small and running was hard. I had to knuckle down and thought I could run 2:20. But I am happy with my time. I'm still new to the marathon and can improve," said Cheruiyot.

Her performance has certainly caught the eye of the coaches ahead of Kenya team's selection for the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in Australia.

"I have always been running in the Olympics since Sydney in 2000. But I have to learn the new tricks of running in a marathon. For now rest will do me good and then we will sit down with my management to decide, which race to compete in," she added.

Indeed, Cheruiyot will look at her winner's medal with pride and sneer at the organisers of the Chicago marathon, who locked her out of the race before she opted to travel to German for the Frankfurt marathon.

In Germany, Organisers had put up a good incentive if she could beat the course record of 2:21, but with the windy condition, she had to subdue and take her foot off the acceleration in the last 10k, which saw her miss out on her mission, but still cut off 15 seconds off her personal best time.

"The race was tough. Thanks for all your support. I will work hard to run a faster time, but am still new in this game and I must accept to listen to the body and follow up later," she added.

--IANS

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