by Justin Lagat
Memorial Agnes Tirop Cross Country schedule, 12 February 2022, photo by Justin Lagat
A busy weekend around the world. Justin Lagat will be covering the Memorial Agnes Tirop Cross Country Meeting for RunBlogRun on Saturday, local time. Looking forward to a totally cool Senior women’s race tomorrow!
It has always been a norm to have the senior men’s races as the last events on cross country meetings, but the senior women’s race is scheduled to be the final one at the World Athletics Cross Country Tour Gold meeting in Eldoret.
Most of the stars in the senior women’s race have been close friends, training partners, and fellow competitors in a number of races to the late Agnes Tirop whose name the race has been named after to remember her running achievements.
Senbere Teferi who had finished 2nd behind Agnes Tirop at the 2015 world cross country championships in Guiyang, China will be among the stars expected to toe the starting line on Saturday 12th.
Teferi also set the 5km world record of 14:29 at the same event where Agnes Tirop set the 10km world record of 30:01.
However, there will be tough competition from the local stars in the country.
Kenya’s national champions who emerged victorious at the same venue last month will be hoping to upgrade their titles and become World Athletics cross country tour gold meeting champions as well at the Lobo Village in Kapseret.
The top 30 finishers from each event from the Kenyan National Cross Country Championships have automatically earned their places at the start line of the first-ever world athletics tour event to happen in Africa. They will be added into a mix of other big names both from the locals who didn’t participate at the national championships and from the international runners.
Local stars to watch out for in the senior women’s race include Joyce Jepkemoi who is the reigning Kenyan national cross country champion and Margaret Chelimo who was second behind her.
In the other events, Geoffrey Kamworor remains the big star to watch in the men’s senior race.
World 5000m U20 champion, Benson Kiplangat will be the one star to keep an eye on in the junior men’s race while all eyes will be on the new young sensational runner, Pamela Kosgei who happens to be a sibling to Brigid Kosgei, the women’s marathon record holder in the women’s junior races.
