by Justin Lagat
Eldoret City Marathon, photo by Justin Lagat
Justin Lagat posted this piece on the Eldoret City Marathon on 27 March.
Most runners begin their tapering from around three weeks to their marathon race. The hard training for most of the runners preparing for the Eldoret City Marathon is already done. Perhaps they still need to do one or two more low-intensity tempo runs and relatively shorter speed workouts just to keep their legs active and in good condition.
On the other hand, the race officials have almost finalized their preparations as well. The route is already marked and registration centers have been opened at various destinations in the region.
For the first time, there will be electronic timing at the event, which will make the results more credible and easier to manage at the finish line. Save for the first few top positions, it is obviously hard to get accurate results for all the runners with manual recording. I remember the time I was given in 2018 was almost two minutes slower than what my watch was showing at the finish line, and perhaps it may have been faster for others. The registration deadline will come earlier than usual so that the timing chips will be fitted in the race numbers on time.
Many corporates and local businesses around Eldoret town have been adding to the long list of sponsors that are coming in to support the event, which is set to be a big one.
However, some measures announced on Friday 26th by the Kenyan president to curb the spread of COVID 19, including the suspension of all sporting activities in the country, have left many runners confused not knowing how this is going to affect the marathon event. After the announcement, there has been no communication from the race organizers on whether the race will go on, or not. This is from the time this article was written at 10 am Saturday 27th in the morning.
With the Olympic Games approaching and other countries beginning to open up opportunities for Kenyan runners and athletes to go out and compete in their countries, like in the upcoming Istanbul half marathon and the Hamburg marathon, among others; the suspension of all sporting activities here in the country definitely will not go well for Kenyan runners and for the sporting federations in the country. Do other countries value Kenyan runners more than the Kenyan government?
In a time when runners are gearing up towards the national trials for the Olympic Games, if sporting activities are suspended then it almost like pulling the country out of the Olympic Games after the athletes have spent many months, their sweat and resources in their quest to represent their country well on the global stage.
