Pauline Korikwiang

"I was to make my marathon debut in 2016 at the same marathon event, but an injury derailed my plans. Since then, it has not been a smooth journey for me as I have had a lot of ups and downs with injuries. I would train up to a point, and then get injured again"

"I am so excited to finally announce my debut"

"I have trained well. But, being my debut, I don’t have enough experience to be able to say the exact time I will be aiming for in this race. I will not be running against anyone or going to be under any pressure. I am just going to run my race"

"My coach has been so supportive all through my training and has never ever lost hope in me, even when I was injured. On Saturday, part of the reasons why I will be pushing hard to run a good race will be to appreciate my coach for all the support he has been giving me and to make him happy. Another person that I am grateful to for making it possible for me to emerge out of my injury woes is my physiotherapist, Shadrack Kochong"

"The highest moment in my running career was when I won the world cross country title in 2006, in Fukuoka. I believe that, whether it is a junior or a senior title, the fact remains that you are the best in the whole world. A gold medal is a gold medal"

"I appreciate the schools that I got to pass through in my education as I tried to balance between my running career and school work. Teachers from my former primary school in my home village of Kaptabuk and those at the Riruta Girls High School in Nairobi were always so supportive. They would take me through what other students learned while I was out of school to compete"

"In athletics, it reaches a time when one will want to move on to a different distance, and I believe that my time to move on to the marathon is now"

"I am lucky to be working with the best manager in the world; the Demadonna Athletics Promotions. Gianni has been so good to me, he has been calling personally to offer support and encouragement whenever I have been having challenges in my training"

"That injury has kept me off but am back, ready to take on any race ahead of me. This is my first race after injury and a win means a lot to me. The race was too slow and I decided to take the battle by myself"