Athletes to battle for Sh7.4m purse in Machakos events

A total of Sh7.4 million is up for grabs at the third leg of the BingwaFest Athletics Championships and the first leg of the Athletics Kenya (AK) Cross Country Championships in Machakos County this weekend.

After the first and second legs held in Mumias and Kisumu last month, the Bingwa Fest Athletics Championships, which has a cash prize of Sh6.65m for each leg, moves to the Machakos Teachers Training College (MTTC) arena tomorrow, featuring 16 events.

The track meeting, sponsored by Betika, will pave the way for the Athletics Kenya Cross Country Championships at the same grounds on Saturday, where an enhanced package of Sh750,000 will be up for grabs.

The winners in the men's and women’s 10,000m will pocket Sh 300,000 each in a prize fund covering the top five positions, while those finishing second and third will go home Sh250,000 and Sh200,000 richer. 

Fourth and fifth-placed athletes will earn Sh100,000 and Sh 75,000, while champions in men's and women’s 5,000m will get Sh250,000 each followed by second Sh 150,000, third Sh100,000, fourth Sh50,000, and fifth Sh30,000.

Winners in men's and women’s 100m, 400m, 800m, and 1,500m will receive Sh150,000m each in a prize fund that also covers the top five positions.

Second-placed athletes in the four events will get Sh100,000 followed by Sh60,000 and Sh30,000 for those finishing third and fourth respectively, with fifth-place finishers receiving Sh20,000. 

There will also be the men's and women’s 4x100m and 4x400m relays where the top three placed teams will earn cash rewards.

The winner will pocket Sh100,000, followed by Sh60,000 and Sh30,000 respectively for the second and third-placed finishers. 

Event organiser, Aron Biwott, noted that podium finishers in Mumias, Kisumu, and Machakos legs will not be allowed to compete in the subsequent legs in Mombasa, Nairobi, Meru, and Eldoret.

However, all the top three finishers will be allowed to compete in the grand finale scheduled for Nairobi at a venue and date to be announced later.

“Those finishing fourth and fifth are allowed to compete in the next legs,” said Biwott, who clarified that the date and venues for the next events will be communicated based on the availability of venues.

Athletics Kenya director in charge of marketing, Abraham Mutai, noted that athletes set to compete at BingwaFest and the cross country must pick their running bibs in person on the eve of their respective races at the MTTC.

“BingwaFest participants will pick their bibs on Thursday (today), while those for cross country will collect theirs Friday (tomorrow),” said Mutai, adding that no registration will be done on the day of the competition.

In the AK cross-country event, winners in senior men's and women’s 10km races will pocket Sh50,000 each, while second-placed finishers will go home Sh40,000 richer in a prize fund that covers the top 10 finishers.

Third and fourth-placed finishers will get Sh20,000 each, fifth-placed Sh15,000 and the rest will get Sh10,000 each.

The podium finishers in the under-20 men and women will get Sh30,000, Sh20,000, and Sh15,000 respectively. The rest of the top 10 finishers will receive Sh10,000 each.

The mixed relay podium finishers will get cash rewards of Sh40,000, Sh30,000, and Sh20,000 respectively.

Winners in previous AK cross-country events got Sh5,000.

The cash reward will apply to the next legs in Kapsokwony on October 26, Iten (November 2), Bomet (November 30), and Ol Kalou on December 14.