Over 500 athletes will compete across five categories: 2km loop, 10km senior, and the junior 6km and 8km races for men and women, during the National Cross-Country Championships at the Eldoret Sports Club on Saturday.
The highly anticipated clash of titans event, now a World Athletics Bronze Label competition will mark the culmination of the Athletics Kenya Cross-Country weekend meets, county and regional championships, and disciplined forces competitions held from November last year.
Sponsored by Betika, the event will see senior category winners walk away with Ksh200, 000, while first and second runners-up will pocket Ksh130, 000 and Ksh100, 000 respectively.
Athletes finishing between fourth and tenth will also receive prize money ranging Ksh70, 000 to Ksh10, 000.
Podium finishers in the 2km loop event featuring both genders will walk home with Ksh50, 000, Ksh40, 000 and Ksh30, 000 respectively. Similarly, positions four through to ten will receive prize money awards with the lowest getting Ksh10, 000.
Winners in the 6km and 8km junior categories will pocket Ksh140, 000 while second and third-place finishers will get Ksh90, 000 and Ksh70, 000 respectively with the awards going up to 10th position.
Athletics Kenya Central Rift regional chairman Abraham Mutai has expressed confidence that the preparations put in place will deliver a world-class event.
“Given that there’s no World X-Country event this year, it will be a highly competitive event. Preparations are in top gear as we expect huge chunk of athletics fans,” asserted Mutai.
To accommodate travelling fans the event will begin in the afternoon for the first time, aligning with international event schedules.
Collection of bib numbers and running kits will be on Friday with educational forums from Anti-Doping Agency of Kenya (ADA-K) and AK also scheduled the same day.
This year marks the third time Eldoret is hosting the event following successful editions in 2019 and 2022.
