Kemboi, Jepkesho for Baringo Half Marathon race
What you need to know:
- Kemboi lost the battle to little-known Kenneth Kimengur, finishing second in 63minutes,59seconds against 63.52. Nicholas Kerich, who represented Kenya at the 2013 Moscow World Championships, settled for third in 64.04.
- Kemboi will once again renew rivalry with Kimengur and Nicholas Kemboi, who was third last year. Others in contention are Peter Chesang, Josphat Kiprop, Ossen Nailel and Barnaba Kibii.
After playing second fiddle last year, Hillary Kemboi and Visiline Jepkesho have their eyes set on the trophy when this year’s ABC Bank Baringo Half Marathon goes down on Saturday.
Kemboi lost the battle to little-known Kenneth Kimengur, finishing second in 63minutes,59seconds against 63.52. Nicholas Kerich, who represented Kenya at the 2013 Moscow World Championships, settled for third in 64.04.
Kemboi will once again renew rivalry with Kimengur and Nicholas Kemboi, who was third last year. Others in contention are Peter Chesang, Josphat Kiprop, Ossen Nailel and Barnaba Kibii.
FINISHED THIRD
Jepkesho finished third in the women’s race last year in 73:09, losing to Lisbon Marathon champion Agnes Kiprop in 73:43 as Eunice Chumba took second place in 75:33.
The threesome are back to renew rivalry but should also look out for the likes of Lucy Avoka, Marion Limo and Esther Chemutai who were in the top 10 last year.
Kiprop won the 2012 Prague International Marathon after outrunning her more favoured training partner Lydia Cheromei. She was also placed runners-up in Roma-Ostia race last year, behind fellow Kenyan Filomena Cheyech, who won women’s marathon race during the this year’s Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland.
The winner in both the men and women’s categories will each take home Sh300,000. The increase in the kitty was necessitated by the doubling of the sponsorship money by main sponsors, ABC Bank to Sh10 million.
NEW CATEGORY
The organisers have also announced a new race category featuring school-going students where each team will comprise 10 runners, with four scoring. The winners in this category will win their school Sh100, 000 while at individual level, the will pocket Sh15,000.
“Being a cross country season, we have officially introduced a 6km race for students as we seek to identify athletics talent at the lowest level,” said race patron and former five-time world cross country champion, Paul Tergat.
Tergat said that the prize money would trickle down to the 10th finisher and discussions are at an advanced stage to have it go down further to the top 15.
