NYRR Media Center

Joyciline Jepkosgei made her marathon debut at the 2019 TCS New York City Marathon and finished in first place with a time of 2:22:38. She was just seven seconds off the course record and registered the second-fastest time in the women’s open’s division in New York City Marathon history. It also marked the fastest time ever by a woman making her New York City Marathon debut.

At the 2019 United Airlines NYC Half, during her first-ever trip to the United States, she won on a solo run to the finish in a time of 1:10:07. The world championship silver medalist in the distance became the sixth woman from Kenya to win the event, and the first to do so since 2014.

Jepkosgei is the world-record holder in the half marathon, having run a 1:04:51 to win the 2017 Valencia Half-Marathon in Spain. With that performance, she set her sixth world record in the span of six months. Four of those records came at the 2017 Prague Half Marathon, where she became the first woman to run under 1:05 and also set world records for the 10K, 15K, and 20K distances.

She is coached by her husband, Nicholas Koech, and has a 6-year-old son, Brandon. Former New York City and Boston Marathon champion and two-time marathon world champion Edna Kiplagat is one of Jepkosgei’s most influential role models.