She took the national junior title in cross country in 2008 then won the bronze medal in the junior race at the 2008 World Cross Country Championships. She also ran in her first senior level event, coming seventh at the 2008 African Championships. In her first year as a senior athlete in 2009 she began to make appearances on the European track and field circuit and improved her 3000 m best to 8:49.28 minutes. Having failed to improve upon her 1500 m performances as a young teenager, she turned her talents towards the longer distances. In her debut over the half marathon she delivered a fast performance of 70:54 minutes to win the 2009 Turin Half Marathon and she was fourth at the Marseille-Cassis Classique Internationale 20K race.