Dutchman Remko tops inaugural Rift Valley Marathon

[PHOTO: COURTESY]

More than 30 runners from The Netherlands yesterday braved the morning cold to raise funds in the inaugural Rift Valley Marathon in Iten, Elgeyo Marakwet County.

Elgeyo Marakwet Deputy Governor Wisley Rotich flagged off the race at Kessup trading centre on the Iten-Kabarnet road at 6:30am.

They ran down the valley before going up the hill with the route stretching all the way to the wheat farms in Sergoit area. They finished at Iten Club.

Remko Uleerlaag, who adopted the name ‘Kibet’ was the first athlete to breeze the tape in 3:17.17 accompanied by Joakim Kemboi, who is also a marathoner.

“My experience in the race today is the best in life. It was a tough race but also exciting running in the hills and the valleys of Rift Valley before winding up at the High Altitude Training Centre which is 2400m above sea level,” said the 43-year-old Dutchman.

The athlete said he arrived last week and did some training to acclimatise with the conditions.

“I have participated in many races including, Berlin, Rotterdam and Amsterdam where I recorded my personal best of 2:39:20,” he said.

Former Olympian in 1,500m and 800m Marko Koers finished second in 3:47:44 accompanied by Geoffrey Kiplang’at, while Walter Heymans was third in 3:56:31.

The athletes were competing for United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) in a fund-raising project that will see 10 schools benefit from clean water.

The athletes raised more than Sh18 million in the race and more funds were still trickling in.