Sunday promises to be a special day for sportspeople.

The Standard Chartered Nairobi International Marathon will pit the not-so-known athletes against familiar faces. Dubbed the signature event in Kenya’s road running calendar, the event has attracted more than 12,000 runners.

The proceeds of this marathon go towards various charities, among them treating patients suffering from cataracts.

By yesterday, four past winners had confirmed participation. The 2007 winners John Njoroge and Rose Chesire, 2006 women’s champion Irene Jerotich and last year’s men’s winner Samson Tuiyange will parade among the starters.

But a major blot on this important event is the absence of our elite athletes.

While we appreciate our country’s sporting excellence internationally, Kenyan athletes should grace local events. They must overcome apathy towards domestic competitions.

Experts will talk about altitude and so forth affecting performance. Similar races are organised in South Africa and Ethiopia, which have almost identical climatic conditions to Kenya, yet their star athletes are always proud to participate.

Samuel Wanjiru, Omar Ahmed alias Robert ‘Mwafrika’ Cheruiyot, Paul Tergat, and Catherine Ndereba’s participation would not only improve Kenya’s image but also inspire young athletes to up their game after running alongside the world’s best.

Other equally lucrative competitions have emerged that are proving popular with the Kenyan elite and fun runners. The Safaricom Lewa Marathon, which is the only full marathon hosted in the wild, and the Sotokoto Half-Marathon, founded last year, have given the local calendar variety.

Former world marathon record holders Tergat and Ndereba have graced the Lewa Marathon. However, the event is tucked far deep in the wild, making it difficult for the youth who should be inspired by their presence to emulate them.

The Japanese sponsors of the Sotokoto Half flew in a former Olympic marathon champion, Naoko Takahashi, for the inaugural edition this year.

Also growing by every edition are the Great Lakes Kisumu International Marathon and Mombasa International Marathon, where local runners hone their talent and winners bag good prize money.

Such events should be graced by elite runners to raise their stature.

The focus, however, has always been on the Nairobi Marathon, which passes as the road race of choice for local runners. There is need to raise it to the stature of Berlin, Amsterdam, London, New York, Boston and Chicago marathons.

This is why we urge elite runners to help promote it.

Sunday’s event has seen commendable effort going into the organisation. Organisers have ensured the various categories do not run into one another as was the case in some past editions.

The organisers also did well to change routes to ensure Sunday church goers are not affected by the temporary closure of roads, causing unnecessary disputes in earlier editions.

We hope out top athletes will take cue and race in the next edition of the great run.