Habari za Wiki - 27 October, 2020

Kenyans Shine In Japan

Most of the racing season is wrapped up, but there’s still a bit going down in Japan. 

Kenyan student athletes delivered good results in the men’s 5000m during the Heisei Kokusai University Time Trials. Justus Soget won the race in 13:15.83, Ronald Kwemoi came in second in 13:19.10 with Andrew Lorot completing the podium finish with 13:25.76. Kenyans swept 6 out of 7 places.

Eliud Is Taking Time To Heal

The defeat in London was a blow to Eliud. Even though he handled it gracefully, it is something he had not experienced for 7 years. It was unexpected. And now, Eliud is taking time to recover and heal from it. And when he is ready, he will move on and focus on the 2021 Tokyo Olympic Games. 

It’s a good reminder to all of us that rest and recovery are an essential part of staying in top shape. 

Obiri Won’t Defend Her World Cross Country Title

With the Olympics getting bumped to 2021, it means a crowded year and athletes are having to make tough choices on which races to take part in. 

5000m world champion Hellen Obiri announced her decision: she will stay out of the 2021 World Cross Country which will be held in March in Australia. She will be focusing on training for Olympic Games instead, as she is yet to win an Olympic gold medal. 

What Kenyan Athletes’ Names Mean

Kipchoge & Kemboi. Cheruiyot & Jepkosgei. We know their names, but where do their names come from and what do they mean? Ralph from the Enda team wrote up a long list of what some of the most popular Kenyan athletes’ names mean and where they come from. 

An Honor Decades Delayed 

Until his recognition during Mashujaa Day, 72 year old Francis Musyoki Kamba could easily be mistaken for any other farming mzee. But in his house, he has a collection of gold medals from Commonwealth Games and All African Games as well as silver from World Games in 400m.  Kenya doesn’t produce many sprinters, so it is great to see he Kamba getting some recognition. 
 
Non-Kenyan news

Salwa Escapes Ban

This is a bizarre case! World 400m champion Salwa Eid Naser has been cleared of whereabouts failure charges after it was established that an anti-doping officer knocked on a storage unit door rather than her apartment amid confusion relating to her location.

The Nigerian born Bahraini who was charged with four alleged whereabouts failures by the AIU in June, escaped the two year ban keeping her Olympic dream alive. 

This decision has got the Athletics world question if the AIU is applying double standards when it comes to athletics being sanctioned. Missing four tests is just nuts, and it’s hard to see how a case like this could just be thrown out. 

Rise to Top for Jacob Kiplimo

At only 19 years old, Kiplimo is a world U20 cross country champion; a World Cross Country silver medalist at senior level; he’s run 7:26.64 for 3000m, 12:48.63 for 5000m, and, as of last weekend, he’s the world half marathon champion. Quite a feat but those who’ve been tracking his progress these past four years know just how much he has already achieved. The road to the top started close to the Kenyan border. World Athletics picks up the story in this profile piece

How To Prepare For Your Debut Marathon

A runner’s first at any event is called a ‘debut’. A debut is always a step into the unknown, and debut marathon is always a leap of faith. But normally you’ve got a crowd around you helping you carry on. In this COVID era, running a debut marathon just got that much harder. So former British marathoner Mara Yamauchi shares her five top tips for preparing for your debut marathon

Women Are Better Runners

Endurance matters. And a good way to measure it is how much you slow down in a race. 

This 2020 analysis covers 2,348,505 marathon results achieved during the 2009-2019 period. The purpose was to analyze differences in pace throughout the marathon between women and men. The data has shown that women are 18.33% better at keeping an even pace than men. 

Whether this is because men run with poor strategy - starting too fast and burning out, or whether women have naturally better endurance, will be a matter of debate forever. But the results are clear: on average, women are running distance races better than men.

 

From Us At Enda

It’s time to say goodbye to an old friend: the original Enda Iten.

Back in August 2017, the first of the original Itens rolled off the production line and onto your feet. Thousands of runners around the world have enjoyed everything from 1km time trials to ultramarathons in the Iten. 

But since those very first Itens were made, we’ve been thinking about how we could make them even better. The differences are all subtile, but the sum total is a vastly improved Iten coming in 2021. 

This means the original Itens that we have in stock are the last of their kind. We’re sold out of several sizes, but we’ve marked down the remaining pairs by 10% so that we can move out the old ones and get ready for the new ones coming next year. 

Get a last pair of original Itens right now:

Men's Itens

Women's Itens

 

From the Enda Community

There’s one week left to run the virtual NYC Marathon. Tricia Carbone set a great example of how to get it done, running on a looped course and celebrating the milestones as if it were the real NYC run. 

And of course, a pair of Mara Gold Lapatets were on her feet. She said:

Tricia Carbone on Instagram

“...my new @endasportswear Lapatets were 💯 for this marathon. With my last minute decision to sign up for the virtual race, I was really lucky that I had ordered a new pair of sneakers and put in some easy miles this week. I wore Balega socks and my feet really felt like they could have gone all day in those shoes. Maybe I’ll do this again next week!”