This archive report was first published on 2 November 2019.
On November 26, 2017, Valary Aiyabei, the 2015 Beijing Marathon champion, waved to the crowd after winning the 21km race at the Standard Chartered marathon in Nairobi.
Fast forward to 2020, Aiyabei has set her sights on the women's world marathon record held by Mary Keitany of 2:17:01. The 28-year-old athlete has been on a roll, breaking the previous course record of 2:20:36 set by Ethiopia's Meskerem Assefa in 2018 with a time of 2:19:10 at the Frankfurt Marathon.
Aiyabei's goal is ambitious, but she believes she can achieve it. 'I know I can run faster. I now target the women's record of Keitany, which was set two years ago in London,' she said in an interview in Nairobi after arriving from Frankfurt.
Her next target is Brigid Kosgei's women's marathon record, which she hopes to break in the future. 'Then maybe I can start dreaming of challenging Brigid Kosgei's women's marathon record,' Aiyabei added.
It's worth noting that Kosgei broke the women's all-time world record of 2:15:25 set by Paula Radcliffe in London back in 2003 with a time of 2:14:01.
