Great Chepsaita Country Run to challenge athletes with tough new course

Competitors in this year’s Great Chepsaita Cross Country Run, a World Athletics Gold Tour event on Saturday, will face what will certainly be a tough but nice new course.

Nation Sport did a tour of the course -- a two-kilometre loop, in Uasin Gishu, that has a challenging incline and decline together with seven turns including one hairpin one, and a water shower section that is bound to have puddles that could prove tricky for any speeding athlete.

Chepsaita sits at about 2,100m above sea level. Athletes will start their run at 2,049m, descent to the lowest point on the course at 2,022m before gaining almost 30m and finishing at an altitude of 2,051m.

The finish point has been shifted and stone and debris cleared in certain sections to make the run smooth, but tough nonetheless

According to the meet director Barnaba Korir, the Chepsaita Run can be compared to the course at the 2019 World Cross Country Championships in Aarhus, Denmark in 2019 which was characterized by lumpy ups and downs.

Korir said athletes who excel at Chepsaita will find other courses around the world rather easy and could thus set themselves up for a good season.

He said cross-country running tests the endurance and speed of runners as they navigate diverse terrains and obstacles.

“We are lucky to have another gold label cross country adding to the Sirikwa Classic World Cross Country Tour that normally takes place in February. This is where talents are being identified and we want to tap these talents,” said Korir.

“The race was this year upgraded from bronze label to gold label status and that is because the World Athletics saw the turnout last year and the large number of athletes who competed in the race and going forward we just want to make it better and bigger,” said Korir.

Foreign athletes from South Africa, Uganda, Netherlands, Tanzania, Somalia, Qatar, Ethiopia, USA and Bahrain have been entered in the Run, now in its second year.

Ishmael Kipkurui won last year’s inaugural senior men’s 8km in a time of 23:17 with Edwin Bett finishing second in 23:22 as Fredrick Domongole came in third in 23:24. Edinah Jebitok clinched the women’s senior 8km stopping the cloack at 26:17 as Cintia Chepngeno (26:21) and Janeth Chepngetich (26:58) sealed the podium positions in that order.

The elite senior men and senior women winners will each pocket Sh300,0000 with the second-place and third-place finishers going home with Sh200,000 and Sh150,000 respectively.

The top three finishers in the junior under-20 elite category will earn Sh60,000, Sh40,000 and Sh30,000 for the first, second and third positions.

Scholarships are also up for grabs. 

The race categories are 5-7 years (500m), 8-10 years (1km), 11-13 years (2km), 4-15 years (4km), Under-20 women (6km), Under-20 men (8km), senior women (10km), senior men (10km) senior citizens (46-55 years) – 2km, senior citizens (56-69 years) – 1km and senior citizens (70 years and above) – 500m.