Habari za Wiki - 26 January, 2021
Interview with Lilian Kasait
Lilian Kasait, a world Cross Country bronze medalist, a 2013 World Youth champion in 3000m, the 2014 World Junior silver medalist and a junior champion at the 2015 Africa Cross Country championships now specializes in 5000m.
After a year out of athletics as she attended training at the Kenya Prisons College, Kasait is back to training and competing. She clocked 34:17.01 for second place at the Kenya Prisons Cross Country championships. This was her first race since 2019.
This week we sat down with Lilian Kasait to hear more about her plans for the future. Here's the full interview.
Kenya Police Cross Country this Friday
This Friday Kenya’s National Police Service will hold their cross country competition at the Ngong Racecourse from 8am. Among the athletes expected to compete are - 3000m steeplechase world record holder and world champion Beatrice Chepkoech and three time world cross country champion Geoffrey Kamworor.
This promises to be a very exciting event, which is open to the public and free to attend. It will be especially exciting to see how Kamworwor is doing 6 months after being hit by a motorbike. We hope he’s well recovered and ready for action.
Still on Kenyan events, the National Cross Country Championship has been moved to Nairobi on the 13 February at the Ngong Jockey Club.
Catherine The Great To change Kenya Prisons Sports
A two time marathon world champion, two time Olympic silver medalist, a former marathon world record holder and 4 times Boston Marathon winner - Catherine Ndereba certainly earned her nickname: Catherine the Great.
Ndereba is the only athlete to receive state commendation from all three Kenyan presidents. Upon retiring, Ndereba went ahead to fully serve at the Kenya Prisons as the Assistant commissioner of Prisons Services in charge of sports. Now she’s working full time to change the future of sports in the Kenya prison service.
Kenyan prison service - much like police and army - plays a significant role in supporting Kenyan athletes and making sure they have a steady income beyond their athletics careers. So improvements in their programme should be a big boost for many athletes.
Omanyala Runs Fastest 100m Ever on Kenyan Soil
Ferdinand Omanyala from University of Nairobi clocked the fastest time for 100m on Kenya soil during the second leg of Athletics Kenya Relays Series at Nyayo National Stadium on Saturday 23/01/2021. His time of 10.11 seconds in the 10th heat will however not stand as it was wind assisted. At the event, Ferguson Rotich clocked 48.68 to win the men’s 400m.
Running from Bandits Trained Simiu
Daniel Simiu Ebenyo is a rising star. He shot to fame in 2019 when he finished second at the Kenyan national trials – but he never made it to Doha because as a newcomer he hadn’t been through the required amount of testing.
His journey has been a tough one too - running away from cattle rustlers at a young age in the volatile Baragoi area in Samburu to walking 24km daily helped in shaping his athletics career. He knows what it means to have to keep pushing past the edge of endurance.
Zimbabwe’s Top Marathoner Pitches Tent in Kenya
Kenya’s Rift Valley is always home to foreign athletes, who want to sharpen their skills by benefitting from Kenyans tough training programmes. Zimbabwe's top-ranked men's marathon star Munyaradzi Jari is one of the foreign elites who has pitched his tent in Kapsait, seeking to improve his personal best times and qualify for the Tokyo Olympics. Jari has been at Kapsait since October last year.
If you want to spend some time training here, we’ve got a complete guide to Iten to help you get started in your planning.
To Non-Kenyan News
World Athletics Boss Confident About Olympic Games
Last week there have been a swirl of rumors that the Olympics games will not go on. Japan is under state of emergency due COVID 19, and around the world national federations are struggling to make qualify contests and team trainings work.
But the Japanese government and IOC have stood firm and quickly denied the rumors. World athletics boss Seb Coe believes the games will go on as there is “an absolute, cast-iron determination” to deliver the Tokyo Games. For Coe the ability of athletes to train means the situation is much better than when the Games were postponed last year.
2021 London Marathon For a Record 100k
The 2021 London Marathon will be held on 3 October and organizers are optimistic the race will have a record 50,000 runners at the start and a further 50,000 runners will join virtually bringing the number to 100,000 runners. That figure would smash the record for the most participants, held by the 2018 New York marathon, at 53,121 (though New York would retain the record for participants on the start line).
Though the situation is pretty bad in the UK right now, their vaccination effort is impressive. So it could very well be the race that makes a statement that the pandemic is behind us. You can apply for a charity place here.
Nick Willis Set a Record by Running a Sub-4 Mile for the 19th Straight Year
37 year old Nick Willis has run sub-4 miles every year since 2003—and even the two years before that, he clocked a 4:01 and 4:02. On January 19, Nick Willis wrote himself into the record books when he ran a 3:58.63 mile. His time marked the 19th consecutive calendar year the New Zealander has clocked a sub-4-minute mile.
We always say, “consistency is key.” Willis certainly has proven that point. Congratulations sir.
From The Enda Community
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