Top guns battle in Family Bank marathon

Athletes participate in men 21 kilometer Half Marathon race sponsored by Family Bank in Eldoret yesterday. Sammy Kitui won the race. 04.10.2015. Pictures By Peter Ochieng

Action galore is expected when the tenth Family Bank 21km run gets underway in Eldoret town tomorrow.

Sammy Kirui and Caroline Jepchirchir are expected to defend their titles against the more than 1,000 runners in Eldoret’s premier 21km run.

The bank has doubled the prize money with winners taking home Sh500,000, runner-ups Sh300,000 and second runner-ups Sh200,000 and the prizes trickles down to the tenth finisher.

Yesterday, the race Local Organizing Committee and the sponsors had a media briefing in Eldoret where they gave an assurance that all plans for the race were complete.

The course has been changed with the finish point moving from the traditional place outside Family Bank branch to Zion Mall along Uganda Road.

Maj (rtd) Charles Chesire, the Athletics Kenya (AK) Uasin Gishu branch chairman, said they want a spacious place that accommodates the huge crowd at the finish.

“The route has been marked and our security team will block all roads leading to the town from 6am. We wanted to avoid the confusion that happened last year in the finish line and that’s why we have made the changes,” said Chesire.

He said they wanted to ensure the race conforms to AK guidelines and even attain IAAF certification in future.

The race, which was started in 2007, has always attracted top and upcoming athletes with some of them using it as dress rehearsals for Amsterdam, Frankfurt and New York City marathons –which come up in October and November every year.

Carole Gichuru, the bank’s Head of Marketing, said they have increased sponsorship money from Sh6m to Sh10m this year.

“We have increased the prize money and hope it will encourage more upcoming and established athletes to compete. It’s a worthy course since most of the athletes started from here and went on to conquer major marathons across the world,” she said.

“We attach a lot of importance to this marathon as over the years we have succeeded in not only attracting big names, but also supported and nurtured athletes who have gone ahead to make us proud.”