NAIROBI, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- Former world half marathon record holder Peris Jepchirchir said Friday that she intends to break the women's full marathon record soon.
Jepchirchir, 27, who is returning to action after almost two years of maternity leave, confirmed her first race outside Kenya will be at the Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon on February 9.
"I target to run a big city marathon in April. I have already made my debut in Kisumu International marathon back in 2013, and it was a slow time," she said in Eldoret.
"However, after my maternity leave, I believe I showed the world my ability when I was third at the Kass International Marathon in Eldoret."
Her time of 2:39:16 in the Kass International Marathon was almost nine minutes from the debut time of 2:47:33, which she set in Kisumu back in 2013.
Jepchirchir only enjoyed the world half marathon record of 65 minutes and six seconds for one month before Joyciline Jepkosgei improved the mark to 64:52 at last year's Prague Half Marathon in April.
Six months later, Jepkosgei improved on the mark to 64:51 at the Valencia Half Marathon in October.
But now Jepchirchir said she is going for the bigger goal to reclaim her record and if she excels in marathon she believes compatriot Mary Keitany's women marathon mark of 2:17:42 is beatable.
"To break the record is a dream I always cherish. I have been there before," added Jepchirchir.
However, she may face one of the hardest task in her comeback in Dubai where Jepkosgei is expected to line up alongside defending champion Fancy Chemutai.
Her coach Davis Ng'eno believes Jepchirchir will live her dream and reclaim the world record. However, he did not confirm if her athlete will be battling out for a slot in the Kenya team, to the World Championships in Doha, Qatar later in the year.
"We are building slowly. It is important we take each race at a time and see how the season pans out," he said. "She will be running in April in a marathon, which we are yet to finalize a deal."
