Florence Kiplagat did not defend her world cross-country title in 2010, as she was recovering from an injury. She made her debut over the half marathon distance in September 2010 and managed to win first time, beating Peninah Arusei to the Lille Half Marathon title with a time of 1:07:40. This was enough to gain selection for the 2010 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships and she defeated Dire Tune in the final stages of the race to take the women's world title in only her second outing over the distance. She also led Kenya to another world team title alongside Arusei, her Lille rival. Having taken global titles in cross country and road running, she stated her intention to focus on reaching the podium on the track at the 2011 World Championships in Athletics and the 2012 London Olympics. She ran in the 15K race at the Zevenheuvelenloop and was runner-up to Genet Getaneh, but at the Sapporo Half Marathon she continued her undefeated streak over that distance.