Saturday 14 December: 12 Safaricom Nyeri Half Marathon
On a very hot morning on the slopes of Mount Kena, 150 km Northwest of the capital Nairobi, the 12th annual Nyeri Half Marathon got under way. Conditions were always going to be tough for the competitors with the race having started at 11:00am, however, Peter Murikui, in an outstanding show of athletic performance, soared above the blistering heat to take the men’s half marathon title and setting a new course record of 1:01:52. In the women’s race Joyce Kandie, whom we met at the Loch Ness Marathon, sealed the podium with a time of 1:17:40. RAB athletes Christopher Rono came through in 1:06:24 with Jackson Chepkwony struggling in the heat clocking a time of 1:14.
Taking charge of the race at the 10km mark Murikui, the 26 year old Golazo sports athlete embarked on a determined effort towards the finish. He did have to contend with runner-up Vincent Loritam (1:02:19) who shadowed him for the entire race after the pair separated themselves from the challengers. Meanwhile Christopher showed his ability to compete with the best of those entered only tailing of as the race came to a close.
The Nyeri Half Marathon was established by world marathon champion and four time Boston Marathon champion, Catherine Ndereba and boasts an attractive prize pool for a domestic race in Kenya – 1st 50,000 Kenyan Shillings (KSH) ($700), 2nd 25,000 KSH ($350), 3rd 20,000 KSH ($300). The race has attracted a huge following in the Highlands of Central Province attracting some of athletics tops names in past races, including former world record holder Paul Tergat, Ethiopia’s Meseret Defar, Tegla Loroupe and 1997 world steeplechase champion Wilson Boit Kipketer.
As an organization we view domestic races as critical to the development of our athletes. This race enabled Christopher and Jackson to put the training they have done into practice in the context of a competitive race and provides us with a marker on their performance. As Christopher explains it allows our athletes to know which area of their training they need to improve on: it is good to take part in local races because now I know where to rectify my training. I realized that what I am lacking is speed so now I’m going to concentrate on speedwork.’ We will be working with Christopher to identify appropriate Kenyan races which can help him and our other athletes in their determined efforts for improvement.
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