Eldoret comes alive to host Kass Marathon on Sunday

By Jonathan Momen and Joseph Ngure

Eldoret town comes alive on Sunday when more than 4,000 runners line up at the sixth Kass marathon run.

Lewa Marathon winner (2:48.01) Gladys Kerubo Otero and men’s defending champion Paul Koech are expected to light up the high-stakes 42km showpiece.

Kosgei will be seeking to become the first athlete to successfully defend title while Kerubo eyes to fit into Magdaline Mugunzi’s big shoes — after she shifted base from Ngong to Iten and bagged the 2010 women’s title.

Kerubo, an Iten-based runner, said: “I know the competition in Kass Marathon will not be easy. But I will give it my best. The Lewa course was tougher.”

Koech, an Iten-based runner, denied 2010 winner Isaac Kosgei title defence as he strolled to victory at 2:15.49. His casualties on his maiden marathon included former world cross-country junior medalist Peter Kosgei and avid road-racer Donald Sambu.

After Kass Marathon victory, Mugunzi stretched her exploits with impressive wins. Two weeks ago, Mugunzi won Dublin Marathon.

“I will miss out this year’s competition since I raced recently in Dublin. But I still long to compete in Kass Marathon in future,” Mugunzi told FeverPitch on a telephone interview from Ngong recently.

The fourth born in a family of ten said she spent her Kass Marathon earnings well: “I decided to build a house for my mother and bought some assets. But I do not have a job at the moment.”

For Mugunzi, shifting her training base from Ngong to Iten was the right move she made to enhance her athletics career.

She then immediately settled in the tinny athletic rich town in Keiyo/Marakwet County, and good things began to come her way.

“It was not all that easy for me at first. Iten is very cold and the moment I arrived there, I started feeling unwell,” said Mugunzi, 24, the winner of the fourth Kass Marathon in Eldoret.

Mugunzi, who hails from Yata in Ukambani, moved her training four months ago in July, one of the coldest months in Iten.