It was all celebrations at the Kamwosor Junior Training Camp in Baringo County after Agnes Ng’etich broke the women-only world 10km record clocking 29:24 at the Transylvania on Sunday.
The World Athletics Elite Label road race is part of the Brasov Running Festival in Romania.
In an impressive solo running display, the 22-year-old showed her intent from the start and covered the first 5km in 14:25 – four seconds faster than the women-only world record for that distance.
She had a lead of 10 seconds ahead of her compatriot Catherine Reline at that point. Racing on the loop course, Ng'etich went on to pass 6.5km in 18:54 and 8.5km in 24:56 before crossing the finish line in 29:24 to record the fastest ever 10km in a women-only race, improving on the 30:01 set by the late Agnes Tirop in Herzogenaurach in 2021.
The camp’s head coach Ruth Bundotich said the news was not just great for the camp but was also celebrated at the church, where Jebet congregates for spiritual nourishment.
“Today, I was the preacher and my preaching focused on success. I then received the great news of Agnes (Ng'etich) winning and breaking the world record while I was still on the pulpit," said Bundotich.
He added: "I excused myself and cried tears of joy before returning to break the news to the congregants. It was jubilation, song, dance, and worship and this has not stopped.”
Bundotich explained that on the eve of the race, Jebet had requested to be prayed for before sleeping, which together with my husband Stephen Rutto we did.
“We quickly set up a WhatsApp video call and prayed together with her before sleeping. Today morning, we did not talk because she was to run at 10 am (EAT), and by that time, we were already in church, where the big news was revealed to us,” she said.
She said Pastor Rutto, who had donated the land for the training camp, has been very supportive of the team.
As well as being the fastest women-only 10km, Ngetich’s time is the third-quickest by a woman in history, behind only the 29:14 run by Ethiopia’s Yalemzerf Yehualaw in a mixed race in Castellon last year and the 29:19 Yehualaw clocked in Valencia earlier this year.
Reline held on to finish second in 30:14, while Uganda’s Joy Cheptoyek placed third in 30:34. The men’s race was won by Weldon Langat, who completed a Kenyan double in 27:05. He was followed by Amos Kurgat (27:12), Edward Zakayo (27:14) and Dennis Kimetto at 27:17.
