NYRR Media Center

Aliphine Tuliamuk won the 2020 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials, shocking the running world by finishing first in Atlanta in 2:27:23 to make her first Olympic team four years after gaining U.S. citizenship. Tuliamuk gave birth to her daughter in January 2021 and returned to training in time to compete in Tokyo, where she dropped out of the marathon near the 20km mark with a hip injury. Tuliamuk was successful in helping push Olympic organizers to allow breastfeeding mothers to take their babies to Tokyo.

This will be the third time she races the TCS New York City Marathon; she was 12th in 2019 (2:28:12) and 13th in 2017 (2:33:18). She has had additional success racing in Central Park, with a three consecutive podium finishes at the New York Mini 10K from 2016-2018; she finished fourth this year.

Tuliamuk was born and raised in a small village near Kapenguria, Kenya. Having picked up running “accidentally,” Tuliamuk sought to be just like her idol Tegla Loroupe, a two-time New York City Marathon champion also from Kenya’s West Pokot County. Tuliamuk grew up with 31 siblings, as her father had four wives, and each had eight children. She came to the U.S. to attend Wichita State University on a full scholarship, where she graduated with a degree in public health science and nine NCAA All-American honors.

In 2016, two days after gaining her U.S. citizenship she was second overall and the top American at the Lilac Bloomsday Run (12K) in Spokane, Wash. In her first year as a U.S. citizen, Tuliamuk claimed national road titles over 25K, 20K, and 5K. She then competed in the 10,000 meters at the U.S. Olympic Trials. In 2017, she won her first national cross country title and was the top American at the 10-kilometer IAAF World Cross Country Championships. Since then, she’s added national titles over the half marathon, 25K, 10K, and 7 miles, including another 25K title this year.

Tuliamuk lives in Santa Fe, N.M., with her fiancé, Tim Gannon, and daughter, Zoe. She has also worked as an Uber driver and started her own crocheting businesses.