Golden girl Cherono back home, aims to improve her PB

Kenya’s golden girl Gladys Cherono is back home in Eldoret after a long flight from Germany where she posted a jaw-dropping performance winning the Berlin Marathon for the third time.

Speaking with Citizen Digital at the Eldoret Airport after her arrival, a calm Cherono who was welcomed by her husband Joseph Bwambok and her close family members said that her focus is now to improve her Personal Best(PD) next year in Berlin.

Cherono who is a first woman to win both 5,000 metres and 10,000 metres at the African Championships,her heroics coming  in 2012, attributed her success to hard work in training, noting that she knew she could perform better due to rigorous training.

“I’m happy I’m Berlin Marathon winner, I knew I would win since I had prepared well” she said

“I was not fearing Dibaba(Tirunesh) because my preparation was good,” she added.

Cherono whose first victory on the Berlin course was  in 2015, before following up on her heroics last year  promised to win the title again next year.

This year Cherono, 35-year-old outraced the race favourite, Tirunesh Dibaba of Ethiopia, and shattered her own PR to become the fourth fastest woman in history. The mark was also well under the course record for Berlin, smashing Mizuki Noguchi’s time from 2005 of 2:19:12.

She said her motive was not to break the world record but to improve her personal best. “ I’m happy for it, mine was not for a world record but to reduce my personal best” said Cherono.

Cherono said she is not set for any race soon but eager to participate again next year in Berlin.

Her husband Joseph Bwambok said Cherono had prepared well for the race and her win was predictable.

In a separate interview in Nairobi, before she took a connecting flight to Eldoret, the 35-year old said: “I am so excited I won this race for the third time. I had trained well and I was ready. I knew I was going to meet with tough fellow athletes, but my focus was one thing to win.”

Cherono clocked 2:18:11 to win the race setting new course from the previous one. However she is now working on breaking the women record.

“Nothing is impossible; with hard work and training I know one day I will break this record,” the three-time champion added.

Cherono is a veteran of 14 years on the global running circuit. In 2013, she won silver in 10,000 metres at  the World Championship in Moscow, clocking in 30:45.17. In 2015, in her second marathon, Gladys Cherono won the BMW Berlin Marathon in 2:19.25 and in 2017; she retained her title, this time in 2:20.23.

Reports by Cyrus Sholim and Caro Kones