Caption: Salina Kosgei, Credit: Stevie Mann
Image by: Stevie Mann 
Salina Kosgei 

Runner

Series: WORKING
From: Homelands Productions
Length: 00:07:58

Jon Miller profiles the little-known Kenyan woman who won the 2009 Boston Marathon by less than one second. Read the full description.
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Runner
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Homelands Productions

Runner_small

Salina Kosgei was the tenth and youngest child of poor farmers in the highlands of western Kenya. The family hut had no electricity or plumbing. As a kid, Salina used to run 10 kilometers to school, barefoot, just for the fun of it. Twenty years later, she's still running, not for kicks but for a living. It's been a long slog, with lots of ups and downs. Then suddenly she found herself elbow to elbow with the defending champ in the most prestigious marathon in the world, with the finish line in sight.

Runner | 00:07:58

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Piece Description

Salina Kosgei was the tenth and youngest child of poor farmers in the highlands of western Kenya. The family hut had no electricity or plumbing. As a kid, Salina used to run 10 kilometers to school, barefoot, just for the fun of it. Twenty years later, she's still running, not for kicks but for a living. It's been a long slog, with lots of ups and downs. Then suddenly she found herself elbow to elbow with the defending champ in the most prestigious marathon in the world, with the finish line in sight.

Intro and Outro

INTRO:

You may be thinking about running in a marathon this year A LOT of people are. The number of runners taking part in marathons has tripled since 1980. Most pay an entry fee and hit the road to test themselves, to see if they can finish. And then there are the folks who do it for a living. In our next piece we travel to Kenya, a country that has, along with archrival Ethiopia, dominated the marathoning world for the last 20 years. And I mean dominated. Before 1990, no Kenyan ever won a Boston Marathon – generally considered the world's most prestigious. Kenyan men went on to win 16 of next 19. Kenyan women have done almost as well. Jon Miller went to meet a woman who's been chasing the dream since she was a child. His profile is part of the WORKING series from Homelands Productions.

OUTRO:

That was Jon Miller in Kenya. WORKING is produced by Homelands Productions in collaboration with Marketplace Radio. To see pictures and hear audio, go to working.homelands.org. While you're there, you can also tell the world what you think about YOUR job.

Additional Credits

WORKING is a collaboration between Homelands Productions and Marketplace Radio. Major funding comes from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

Related Website

http://marketplace.publicradio.org/segments/working/runner.html

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