Battle on for Nairobi City Marathon’s big pay purse

The second edition of the Nairobi City Marathon Sunday morning in the Kenyan capital won’t be just another race with close to 15,000 participants chasing different dreams and aspirations.

While it will be the first time for some participants to experience the scenic Nairobi Expressway, some will be aiming to run their personal best times, put their bodies in great shape and basically to have fun.

However, the focus will be mainly on the elite athletes drawn from Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda and Tanzania, who will be using the race as a stepping stone to major races abroad.

With the marathon still having the richest purse on the continent, good success stories came from last year’s first edition and it’s no wonder Elgeyo Marakwet’s Brimin Misoi, 37, is back to defend his 42km crown.

Interestingly, international Pauline Korikwiang, a silver medallist at Stockholm Marathon last year, was the late entrant for the women’s full marathon.

Misoi, who collected a cheque of Sh 6.9 million last year for his exploits managed to purchase four acres of prime land in Eldoret besides helping his neighbours pay school fees.

Misoi went on to win the Frankfurt Marathon, a World Athletics gold liable race last year in personal best before finishing 13th in Tokyo Marathon in March, his maiden debut at the World Marathon Majors.

"This is a good opportunity for me to win more money as I wait for another chance at the WWM," said Misoi.

Shyline Jepkorir, who finished second in the women's marathon last year, has had a major breakthrough to make Team Kenya for the World Athletics Championships.

She won the Enschede Marathon in April in a personal best time of 2:22:45.

Jepkorir, bought land in Iten and managed to put up her own house hence enabling her to ditch renting from her purse of Sh4.2m last year.

The prize fund of Sh 24.04m has been set aside for top performers this year with the winners in men and women’s full marathon set to pocket Sh3.5m each in a prize fund that covers top 20 finishers in each category.

Misoi has a battle at hand against top crème from fellow Kenyans, Ethiopia and Tanzania.

Meseret Aragaw leads the Ethiopian charge of Haile Michael Assefa Mekonnen, Atinafu Tismaw and Shume Tafa.

Aragaw, who has a personal best 2:10: 09, finished second at the Taipei Marathon in 2021 and third at the same race last year. He was also placed ninth at the Daegu International Marathon last year.