Chelangat, Kibet victories highlight annual Kericho Cross Country
Reading Time: 3min | Sun. 06.10.24. | 14:00
Winners in the main categories earned Ksh150,000 for their exploits
The annual Kericho cross country went down on Saturday, 5 October at the Kericho Teachers Training College (KTTC) with the event becoming bigger and better each year.
Sheila Chalangat and Vincent Kibet Langat's wins in the 10 KM senior women and men respectively was the highlight of the event as they walked home with Ksh150,000 each.
The event also saw several other athletes walk home with cash prizes in the various categories that had KTTC filled to capacity and a beehive of activities there in.
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The race had three categories with two of them divided into men and women. The first one was the 10 KM which was the main race and had men and women compete separately . The second was the mixed relay and lastly the Masters race (50+ years) that was also divided into men and women.
A total of Ksh1.25 million was up for grabs in cash prizes, distributed into the various categories.
The 10 KM men and women categories took the biggest chunk of the money. The winner of each gender walked home with Ksh150,000 while the second and third took home Ksh100,000 and Ksh75,000 respectively.
Position four earned themselves Ksh50,000 with position five taking Ksh40,000 while positions 6-10 won themselves Ksh20,000 each.
The mixed relay saw the winners get Ksh50,000 with the second and third placed teams winning Ksh30,000 and Ksh20,000 respectively.
The Master race saw winners from both men and women walk home with Ksh30,000 with the second person earning Ksh20,000 while the third place won Ksh10,000.
In the 10 KM senior women race, there were over 140 participants with Kenya Police's Chelangat winning the gold medal at a time of 33:18.95 minutes
Diana Chepkorir of Keringet, Nakuru County was second with a time of 33:33.81 minutes with Maurine Jepkoech of Kipchiloi, Nakuru County finishing third at 33:32.81 minutes
Positions 4-10 was occupied by Chepngeno Viola, Mirriam Jepkech, Christine Chesiro, Daisilsh Cherono, Faith Cherono, Abigael Chemnaei, and Mercy Cherono respectively.
The 10 KM senior men category attracted over 450 participants with Kibet of Nakuru County emerging the winner after completing the race in 30:04.52 minutes.
Nicholas Kipkorir came second after using 30:10.52 minutes to complete the race while Mathew Kipkoech of Elgeyo Marakwet County finished third at 30:14.79 minutes.
Other athletes in position 4-10 to complete the cash prize category were Francis Kipkorir Langat, Wesley Kipkemoi Yego, Cornelius Kemboi, Reynold Kipkorir, Vincent Kipngetich, Collin Kibet and Asbel Kiprop Kiprono respectively.
In the mixed relay category, Team Keringet from Nakuru County that had Daniel Kimoiyo, Diana Chrpkorir, Daniel Kinyanjui and Janet Chepngetich emerged winners after completing the race in 23:46.24 minutes.
The second place was taken by team Ainamoi from Kericho County that had Laban Chepkwony, Carren Chebet, Ngeno Kipngetich and Winny Chebet. They completed the run in 23:46.66 minutes.
The cash prize category in the mixed relay race was closed by team Kiptere of Kericho County after completing the race in 24:45.44 minutes and had in their ranks Cynthia Chesebe, Daisilah Cherono, Kenneth Kimutsi and Justice Kipkoech.
The last category was the masters race that saw participants who have 50+ years compete against each other. The women's category was a 2 KM race while the men's race was 4 KM.
In the Women's race, Joyce Kirui of Nakuru County won the race after taking 8:07.51 minutes to complete the race. Sheila Kasyoka of Nairobi County and Lewnida of Nandi County took position two and three respectively after using 8:37.90 minutes and 8:54.50 minutes respectively.
The men’s category was won by Francis Bowen who finished the race in 12:55.00 minutes. Peter Bii came second, finishing in 13:05.67 minutes with Andrew Sigei occupying the third position after he used 13:12.33 minutes to complete the race.
The organizers of the event said that plans to have the 2025 race will begin immediately as they seek more partners in order to make the event even better.
