{"id":40532,"date":"2018-11-23T08:28:45","date_gmt":"2018-11-23T16:28:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/?p=40532"},"modified":"2025-11-21T09:20:28","modified_gmt":"2025-11-21T17:20:28","slug":"jane-kibii-is-the-next-top-womens-runner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/run\/jane-kibii-is-the-next-top-womens-runner","title":{"rendered":"Jane Kibii is the Next Top Women\u2019s Runner"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jane Kibii is having quite a run. At 33 years old, the Kenyan-born runner, who lives in Auburn, California, has spent the last couple of years proving to be one of the fastest women in the world. <\/span><\/p>\n

At the 2016 Twin Cities Marathon, Kibii won in an astonishing two hours and 30 minutes. She\u2019s since won the Bay to Breakers 12K in San Francisco twice and the Twin Cities Marathon again in 2017. She\u2019s podiumed at a number of prestigious races, like the Los Angeles Marathon, where she placed second in 2017.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Jane Kibii placed second at the Los Angeles Marathon in 2017. (Photo Credit: Jon Humphries)<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s one of the smartest racers I\u2019ve ever known,\u201d said Kibii\u2019s manager Brad Poore, a former professional runner. \u201cShe\u2019s the complete opposite of me. If I\u2019m in shape I\u2019ll do stupid things in a race, whereas Jane is a lot better about gauging her energy and really running the perfectly paced race even to the extent that leaders will open up a gap ahead of her knowing she\u2019s going to chase them down later in the race.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Kibii\u2019s running prowess started at an early age. As a child, she would run 7 miles from her home in Moiben, Kenya, to school and back again, often barefoot, keeping pace and often outrunning the older boys. She started racing in high school and went undefeated in 1,500-meter events, but even then, she never considered running to be more than a hobby.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I was young I didn\u2019t understand running could take you far away,\u201d she said. \u201cWhen I did my first race outside the country, in Uganda, injured, and I came in second, I was like, \u2018Wow. I can do this.\u2019 I think I won $200 but it was still big money for me. I had never even had $30 for myself so that was a huge surprise.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Kibii\u2019s journey has had its fair share of challenges. As one of nine siblings growing up, she shared a room with her brothers and sisters, eating meager meals of ugali (a type of porridge) and living without running water or electricity. She moved to the United States in 2006 and now lives and trains full time in California.<\/span><\/p>\n

Even with that blazing 2:30 marathon time, sponsorships have been hard to find. In a sport where the difference between winning $800 and $10,000 comes down to a matter of seconds, the pressure to perform is tremendous, especially given that Kibii has a 5-year-old daughter, Belvia, and is a single mother. \u201cWhat motivates me to run is I don\u2019t want to depend on someone,\u201d Kibii said. \u201cI\u2019m a single mom. I run and I save money for me and my daughter.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n