Obiri and Kamworor headline KDF, Police cross country meets
Hellen Obiri cruises on her way to victory during the opening leg of Athletics Kenya Cross Country Series at the People's Park in Machakos on November 28, 2020.
What you need to know:
- Athletics showdown looms at Moi Air Base, Ngong Racecourse
It will be a full house affair when Kenya Police Service and Kenya Defence Forces host their cross country championships Friday, with defending champions in the mix.
World cross country queen, Hellen Obiri, will be out to reclaim the women's title from Joyce Chepkemoi when the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) Cross Country Championships go down at Moi Air Base in Nairobi, while Kibiwott Kandie will be chasing a hat-trick of titles.
At the same time, Geoffrey Kamworor, fondly known as “Man for all surfaces”, will be eyeing an eighth title with Sheila Chelangat gunning for her second crown at Kenya Police Service Cross Country Championships at the Ngong Racecourse.
Meanwhile, the Athletics Kenya Nairobi region Cross Country Championships that had been planned for Saturday at the Ngong Racecourse in Nairobi have been deferred to February 7. The venue remains unchanged.
Star athletes with the exception of Chepkemoi will be out to win their respective institutional races to qualify for the National Cross Country Championships on February 15.
Most of them are also planning to compete in Ras Al Khaimah (RAK) Half Marathon in the United Arab Emirates on February 19.
Both Obiri and Chelangat will be making their debut in the half marathon in UAE where Kamworor, who is making a comeback after one year out with injury from a road accident, will return, hoping to recapture the title he won back in 2013.
Kandie and Chelangat will be out to retain their national titles. However, Obiri, who claimed the national crown for the first time in 2019 and Kamworor, who won in 2016 and 2018, will be the athletes to watch.
Obiri, the World 5,000m champion, failed to compete in defence of her KDF crown last year, but hopes to recapture the title for the fifth time, having won in 2014, 2017 and 2019.
“It's my desire to recapture both the KDF and national titles before I focus on RAK and the track season ahead,” said Obiri, who launched her season in style by winning the opening leg of Athletic Kenya Cross Country Series on November 28 in Machakos.
“I have nothing to worry about at the moment as I try to maintain good shape,” said Obiri, the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics 5,000m silver medallist.
Kandie stormed to the national limelight when he won the KDF title in 2019 at Kahawa Garrison, defended it at Laikipia Airbase in 2020, before causing a major upset by winning the national title at Ngong Racecourse the same year, beating defending champion Kamworor.
Kandie went on to win RAK Half Marathon and claimed silver at the World Half Marathon on October 17 in Poland. He broke the world record in the half marathon (57min, 32sec) in Valencia on December 6.
