There’s a special reason why Iten town in Elgeyo Marakwet County will be at a standstill Sunday afternoon. No. Not because of the double header in today’s English Premier League.
And not because of high anxiety ahead of Monday’s deadline for the filing of petitions against the Kenyan presidential election rerun results.
Most certainly not because Elgeyo-Marakwet’s second-term Governor Alex Tolgos will be holding a public rally in this athletics-rich town. But because, from 5pm, Kenyan time, the county’s - and country’s - finest runners will line up at the New York Marathon’s starting line on Staten Island in First Wadsworth, ready to tackle the five “Big Apple” boroughs in the year’s final World Marathon Majors Series race.
Women’s title holder Mary Keitany, former winner and ex-world marathon record holder Wilson Kipsang and twice world marathon world champion Edna Kiplagat, the star elites on Sunday, all live within four kilometres of one another in Iten town, the self-proclaimed, and rightly so, “home of champions.”
Betsy Saina, the third top Kenyan woman enlisted, also lives and trains in Iten, while “man of all surfaces” Geoffrey Kipsang Kamworor, making his second appearance in New York, is also from Elgeyo-Marakwet County.
Hence the added interest in Iten town on Sunday where even die-hard Arsenal, Manchester City, Chelsea and Manchester United fans will not flip channels but focus on the New York Marathon’s live broadcast.
At the Keellu Resort on the outskirts of Iten town, Bank of Africa have organised a viewing party where they will also impart banking and investment advise to young and elite athletes ahead of the live broadcast.
The Bank of Africa’s “viewerthon” will also include educational sessions on anti-doping by the Anti-Doping Agency of Kenya (Adak).
Most significantly, Keellu Resort is owned by Kipsang who started the year on a high, winning February’s Tokyo Marathon in the fastest time ever run on Japanese soil - two hours, three minutes and 58 seconds.
The resort will most certainly be packed to the rafters. “Bank of Africa sees these viewerthons as a chance to better interact with marathoners, athletic fans and our customers in a fun experience where we both educate and entertain our stakeholders,” said Bank of Africa’s head of marketing, Jimmi Wanjohi.
“Our athletes have performed exceptionally well this year and we expect to end the series on a high note come Sunday,” added Wanjohi, as he prepared to make the “pilgrimage” to Iten, famous for it’s impeccable high altitude training conditions, to watch the race.
And Governor Tolgos appreciates the enviable resources his county has, going as far as grading running tracks in Iten town to reduce chances of athletes picking up freak injuries in their training runs.
Meanwhile, Kiplagat will be seeking to end the year on a high having won the Boston Marathon in April and finishing second in the IAAF World Championships in London.
On alternate years, the World Championships and Olympic marathon races count towards the World Marathon Majors series whose winner banks a cool $500,000 jackpot, or Sh50 million, which would make any bank manager rub his hands with glee.
For Kipsang, the disappointment of dropping out at the 30-kilometre mark in September’s Berlin Marathon with cramps triggered his management - Volare Sports of Voorthuizen, Netherlands - to put in a late entry request to New York organisers to include him in Sunday’s elite field.
