Big prize purse awaits during Kass Marathon

Safaricom's Angeline Sonje presents a dummy cheque to Kass CEO Julius Lemaon and Benjamin Limo towards the 2014 Kass marathon.PHOTO/DENNIS OKEYO

More than 6,000 runners are expected to take part in the eighth edition of the Kass Marathon in Eldoret on November 16.

The runners will get down to a gruelling battle at the competition to be staged on a new course.

The race will start at Kapsabet Boys High School and end at Eldoret Sports Club, unlike past editions where it started two kilometres from Kapsabet town and ended at Uasin Gishu County headquarters in Eldoret town.

The Kass Marathon extravaganza will be spread across three counties – Elgeyo Marakwet, Uasin and Nandi. Iten will host the luncheon on Saturday (November 15); then breakfast meet at Governor's office in Kapsabet on the day and a big ceremony at the Sports Club in Eldoret.

The race organisers will introduce a running chip which will drag the athletes in four areas after every 10km along the course.

"The running chip will minimise cheats, assist the media in updates and help international coaches in monitoring their athletes' progression during the race," Julius Lamaon, the CEO Kass Media Group said yesterday during the race launch at a Nairobi hotel.

Lamaon received race sponsorship from among others Trans National Bank, Safaricom, National Social Security Fund, Kenya Power and Amaco Insurance.

"We decided to re-design the course and have the finish line at Eldoret Sports Club which can accommodate the huge crowds besides providing an ideal atmosphere for fans and sponsors.

"We will have 10km and not 12km as we have been doing in the past. The fun race will start with one loop in town and end at the Sports Club. We want to have a permanent finish line. The measuring of the new course in underway," said Lamaon.

The thousands of fans will line up the Eldoret-Kapsabet road while millions will follow the action live on KTN. Lamaon said they expected more than 100,000 participants and registration will be done in all Kass Media Group regional offices and online.

Benjamin Limo, the Local Organising Committee chairman and IAAF Athlete Representative, said Kass Marathon gives upcoming athletes an opportunity to earn money locally.

David Okeyo, the Athletics Kenya vice president, asked organisers to avoid cash pay awards and instead deposit winner's prize money into athletes' accounts. Kass Media Chairman Joshua Chepkwony asked organisers to work with universities in capacity building for athletes.