The winners of the inaugural Iten International Marathon on Thursday received their prize money in an event held at the Elgeyo Marakwet County headquarters.
The 42KM race held in December last year saw Samuel Naibei from Trans Nzoia clock 2:08:43 minutes to win the first prize as Joshua Kogo from Uasin Gishu emerged.
Albert Kangogo from Elgeyo Marakwet emerged third in the men’s race.
Carolyne Chepchirchir from Elgeyo Marakwet led fellow compatriot Suzy Chemaimak in a time of 2:33:49. Martha Akeno from Turkana County emerged third.
The awards ceremony saw winners earn Ksh1 million as the runners-up and third placed walked away with Ksh750,000 and Ksh500,000 respectively.
Further, the top 20 finishers were all awarded cash prizes.
Elgeyo Marakwet Deputy Governor Prof. Grace Cheserek while congratulating the winners urged the athletes to invest their earnings in profitable ventures.
“I would like to challenge you to invest what you have earned today so that it can work for a later day when you will not be actively participating in athletics,” Prof. Cheseret said.
She also advised female athletes against falling for men who according to her masquerade as coaches but have their eyes trained on their hard-earned money.
Jonah Chesum who was among the top 20 finishers thanked the County government for staging the event at Iten.
“I am happy the marathon has been brought closer home. I will be trying it again this year. Some of us have not managed to participate in races outside the County because of financial and logistical challenges,” he said.
Date for Iten international marathon second edition
Sports County Executive Purity Koima on her part revealed that for a bigger edition of the marathon were in top gear.
“I would like to congratulate all the athletes for running clean. We have not registered any case of doping or any other athletic malpractice. We will do it again this year,” she said.
Koima also announced that this year’s Iten International Marathon will take place on November 26, 2023.
Further, Keiyo North Deputy County Commissioner Julius Maiyo warned athletes against doping.
He urged them to stick to the rules of the game.
