in
Moscow. She was born in 1984 in
Ichamara in the
Mukurweini/
Nyeri region of central Kenya. Her potential for long-distance running was identified when she was at primary school.
John Kanyi, a local runner who was based in Japan, encouraged her to try for an athletic scholarship to enable her to study and train there as well. She performed well in the scholarship selection races and, aged sixteen, won a place at
Aomori Yamada High School. While in Japan, she won the
1500 metres at the high school championships and, after graduation in 2002, she commenced training with the
Suzuki Track and Field Club. Her first major international appearance came at the
2004 Olympics in Athens, where she finished ninth in the 10,000 metres event. She ran over that distance at the
Hyogo Relays meet and had three straight wins from 2005 to 2007. She finished tenth in 5000 metres at the
2005 World Athletics Final. In November she was selected for the Kenyan women's team at the
International Chiba Ekiden. She was slower than
Maria Konovalova on the final leg, but maintained Kenya's lead to win the women's title. The team's time of 2:13:35 hours was later ratified as an
African record for the
ekiden marathon relay. Wangūi began her 2008 season with a win at the
Chiba International Cross Country. At the
2008 African Championships in Athletics she finished fourth in 10,000 m behind a trio of Ethiopian's led by
Tirunesh Dibaba. At the national Olympic trials she won the 10,000 m and came second over 5000 m. Despite her wish to compete in both events, the Kenyan selectors instead chose her just for the 10,000 m, choosing
Vivian Cheruiyot for the shorter distance instead. she returned to action on the
road running circuit. She had wins at the
Great North Run half marathon and the
Great Edinburgh Run 10K in September and October. She then travelled to the
Delhi Half Marathon and won in a personal best of 1:07:04 hours ahead of fellow Kenyan
Sharon Cherop. She made her debut over the
marathon distance in January 2012 at the
Dubai Marathon. In one of the fastest races ever at that point, she completed the race in 2:19:34 hours to take second place just three seconds behind defending champion
Aselefech Mergia. This was among the fastest ever debuts by a woman and ranked her eighth in the all-time lists. She placed fifth at the
2012 London Marathon in April, but missed out on the
2012 London Olympics as she failed to finish in the 10,000 m trial race at the
Prefontaine Classic. In her third marathon of the year, she reached the podium with a third-place finish at the
2012 Chicago Marathon. She won the 2013
Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon with a new personal best of 1:06:09, just 19 seconds off
Mary Keitany's world record. Kabuu ran the third fastest ever time over 25 kilometres to win the
BIG 25 Berlin in May, crossing the line in 1:21:37 hours. She was selected for the Kenyan marathon team at the
2013 World Championships in Athletics but performed poorly in Moscow, finishing 24th in a time of 2:44:06 hours. He last outing that year was a third-place finish at the
Delhi Half Marathon. ==Personal bests==