The 2nd edition of Athletics Kenya (A.K) The Nandi Barngetuny memorial mountain run took place this morning starting at Lelgotet, along Maraba road and finishing at Kimatgei primary school in Tinderet constituency.
Addressing athletes and the public after completion of the marathon, Athletics Kenya President General (Rtd) Jack Tuwei lauded the participants for honoring the marathon as a way to nurture talents.
Tuwei challenged upcoming athletes to not only focus on their talent but to also focus on education encouraging them to have a holistic career. “I want to call on everyone associated with running, be it athletes, parents, officials and athlete support personnel to desist from using substances,” he said.
The AK boss emphasized AK’s desire to support clean sports, warning athletes that the use of performance-enhancing drugs would be costly in the long run. He noted that the predecessors have created a good image for Kenya as an athletics powerhouse over the years.
“There is no way one can cheat in the current world of sports, the level of technology is too high, and no one will escape if he or she is cheating. The generation that set the standard for Kenya as a running powerhouse never cheated,” noted Tuwei.
He was impressed by the youngsters’ desire to train and run clean by resisting the temptation to use banned substances.
Nandi Governor Stephen Arap Sang called for increasing the forest cover encouraging the community to plant trees as a way of improving air quality.
The theme of the 12 km marathon was ‘Clean air for clean run’. The 12km marathon men winner was Patrick Kipngeno from Nakuru County and Ruth Daniels from Uasin Gishu County for the women.
The Nandi Governor was accompanied by Uasin Gishu Senator Jackson Mandago and Tinderet Member of Parliament Julius Meli.
The marathon was sponsored by Athletics Kenya, Kenya Cooperative Bank, Tinderet Tea Farm, County government of Nandi, Lions Hill Farm Lelgotet, Equity Bank and Coca-Cola.
By Valarie Kosuri
