Elite lead quest for Kisii half-marathon crown

By ROBERT NYASATO

The stage is set for the second edition of the Annual Kisii Safaricom Half-Marathon to be held on Friday.

Preparations for the event, which has attracted over 500 runners, are in top gear with Athletics Kenya (AK) Nyanza South leading the course.

The Kisii Half-Marathon will start and finish outside Jogoo Primary School in Kisii town along the Kisii-Nyamira Road.

AK Nyanza South Chairman Peter Angwenyi said elite runners from the region have confirmed participation, including the Commonwealth women’s silver medallist Irene Mogaka, former Olympic 5,000m silver medallist Isabellah Ochichi, Jackline Nyangeri and Damaris Areba among others.

The men’s category has attracted marathoner Declark Omari as well as Geoffrey Bundi and Edwin Mokua among others.

The Safaricom-sponsored race is one of the series that the mobile phone service provider has introduced in the Marathon Category.

Teams are expected to compete for bonus cash awards at the end of the fourth race in the series, which will be held in Kisumu City in December. 

The winner will pocket Sh50,000, the runners-up Sh25,000 and third-placed runner Sh10,000.

The cash awards will trickle down to the tenth position. Angwenyi said there would be more cash rewards for local runners.

Meanwhile, Athletics Kenya yesterday announced a 21-member team to represent the country at the African Junior Championships to be held in Mauritius from August 29 to September 1. This was after trials were held at the Nyayo Stadium where teams representing North, Central and South Rift, Nairobi, Southern, Central and Nyanza regions took part.

Gregory Kilonzo and Hosea Sang are the team coaches.