Habari za Wiki - 4 August, 2020
Beatrice Chepkoech to compete in Monaco
3000m world champion and record holder Beatrice Chepkeoch has confirmed to Enda that she will be honoring the Herculis EBS invite. There were reports that she may not compete in Monaco Diamond league as she is not ready. However, Monaco is special for Beatrice, it is where she broke the 3000m steeplechase world record by clocking 8:44.32 in 2018. She will compete in the 5000m.
Here’s the conversation we had with her about it.
Lack of facilities and Hyenas
Kenyan athletes face numerous hurdles to reaching greatness. There isn’t a world class public track in the country. The tracks athletes have trained on for years have been torn up for long-stalled renovations. And for female athletes there is the extra risk of men trying to take advantage of their success. Such scavengers are called hyenas. Ireland’s OTB has an excellent report and accompanying video taking a look at these challenges are more.
Nairobi has a date!
It is now official we have a date for the World U20 Athletics' Championships. The event will be held in 2021 on 17-22 August in Nairobi. This will be a week after the Olympic Games. Under the competition’s rules, athletes aged 16, 17, 18 or 19 years on 31 December, 2021 will be eligible to compete.
Ethiopian Athletes to compete at Kip Keino Classic
Which Ethiopian athlete would you love to see in Nairobi on 26 September at the Kip Keino Classic meet? We would like to see Yomif Kejelcha, Selemon Barega, Genzebe Dibaba and more. And Ethiopia through their Ambassador to Kenya, Meles Alem, has confirmed they will mobilize top athletes to compete in Nairobi because it is important for the region.
World Athletics President Seb Coe is hopeful the Covid-19 situation would be manageable enough for Nairobi to host the leg of the Continental Tour at the Nyayo National Stadium.
We doubt there will be fans in the stands, but we’ll be sure to share how you can watch as we get closer.
Geoffrey Kamworor to resume training soon
In two weeks’ time, Geoffrey Kamworor will resume his training. Kamworor underwent surgery after being hit by a speeding motorcycle while training over a month ago. He is expected to defend his World Half Marathon championship title on October 17th in Gydnia, Poland.
Do you think he’ll be able to bounce back in time to win it?
World record dream for world champion
In 2019 Ruth Chepng’etich surprised many when she won the marathon at the world athletics championships in Doha. And now she believes she can break the women’s marathon world record.
With a personal best of 2:17:08, the 2019 World Champion says she can run faster than Brigid Kosgei’s world record time of 2:14:04. Well, Ruth needs to chop off at least 3 minutes 05 seconds if she has to break the world record by one second, truly a staggering challenge Ruth is willing to take. She is yet to decide the race for the world record attempt.
David Rudisha recalls his London 2012 performance
How well do you recall David Rudisha’s sensational 800m performance on the night of 9 August 2012 at the London stadium? This is when Rudisha became the first man to run 800m under 1min 41 seconds? And without a pacemaker? David Rudisha takes us through the moment of what many call the greatest track race ever.
Brussels behind closed doors
The 44th AG Memorial Van Damme Diamond League meet in Brussels will be staged behind closed doors on 4 September. Brussels Meeting Director Cédric Van Branteghem said the health and the safety of the spectators, the athletes and the staff are the highest concern and priority.
And Doha has a new date
Doha Diamond League will now be held on 25 September instead of the initial 9 October 9. Doha is the fifth meeting of the season and the plan is to stage 12 disciplines, a list of athletes who will compete in the Qatari capital is yet to be announced.
To Non-Kenyan News
4 x1500m world record gone
The women's 4x1500m relay world record is one of the several records Kenya hold. Or rather held, because it is gone now. Mercy Cherono, Faith Kipyegon, Irene Jelagat and Hellen Obiri set the 4x1500m World Relay Record of 16:33.58 at the inaugural 2014 World Relays in Nassau, Bahamas.
And now that has been shattered by an American quartet from Bowerman Track Club, they clocked 16:27.02 running in the US. If you want to see some smooth world class running, check out the video.
Decision on London Marathon
London Marathon is the only World Marathon Major that has not been cancelled yet. The decision on whether it will go ahead on 4 October will be made this Friday. This is after consultation with local NHS trust and emergency services and local authorities were held.
The decision was to be held on Tuesday but it never happened. Instead the race director said in a letter to participants: “I realize that this uncertainty is far from ideal and I would like to thank you for your patience and understanding in these very challenging circumstances.”
If it can be made safe, we hope the marathon will go on, even if it will be elites only. It’s a chance for athletes to qualify for the 2021 Olympics and of course the Bekele Kipchoge showdown.
Respect is all you need Coleman
200m world champion Noah Lyles says it is likely Christian Coleman violation could weaken the United States relay team's chances at the Tokyo Olympics. Lyles and Coleman were on the USA relay team which bagged a 4x100 relay gold medal in Doha in a world leading time of 37.10. Coleman is currently provisionally suspended for whereabouts failure an anti-doping violation which attracts a two year ban. Lyles notes the 100m world champion should take "more responsibility" after he was suspended.
Cross Country at the Olympics?!
This would be excellent Olympic action: World Athletics is considering the return of Cross Country to the 2024 summer games programmes in Pairs in the form of mixed team relays. It will be 100 years since cross country featured at Olympics games – and it was still in Paris in 1924. So fighting time for a return!
We love watching cross country. It is a mental test of human endurance with all those the obstacles from the mud, the hills, water, dirt trails, the grass and all. Mixed team relays also adds an extra level of tactical excitement, as was the case of the first ever mixed team relay at 2017 Kampala World Cross country championships Kenya won over a Genzebe Dibaba led Ethiopia squad.
From Us At Enda
You see it right at the top of this email, so it’s not that much of a surprise: but we have updated our logo.
We never really loved the way Enda appeared in the old logo, and with this update we wanted to convey movement with the spear, rather than having the spear attack the word "Enda". We also wanted something that felt more distinct, so made our own new word mark. Navalayo says more in this blog post and video.
We’ve just made a new batch of Jamii cotton shirts to go with the launch of this updated logo. These T-shirts are a way for every member of the Enda community to share the love. They are organic cotton and proudly Fairtrade certified.
From the Enda Community
Over this past weekend, Nairobi based ultrarunners Victor Miringu and Joshua Cheruiyot did something we’ve never heard of before: summiting Mt. Kenya from all three routes back to back to back.
That’s 101km (62.7 miles) with 5785m (18979 ft) climbing peaking out three times at 4,985m (16354 ft). It took them 36 hours 14 minutes. Here it is on Strava.
You might remember Victor from earlier this year as one of the 4 finishers of our inaugural Go 4-8 ultrarunning event. We’re honour to have been some small part of his journey.
To everyone setting big goals and chasing the impossible: we salute you!