Kenyan athlete Hosea Mwok dies in West Pokot

FILE: Hosea Mwok Macharinyang [photo courtesy/ worldathletics.org]

Kenyan athlete Hosea Mwok Macharinyang who represented the country in five world cross-country championships is dead.

Macharinyang, 35, was found dead at his home in Murkwijit, West Pokot County on Saturday evening.

He won three consecutive team titles with the country at the World Cross Country Championships from 2006 to 2008.

On Sunday, Athletics Kenya officials from the North Rift said Macharinyang, who has been missing in action since 2012 died barely a year after starting training.

He has been described as quiet and a hardworking athlete.

North Rift AK regional chairman Jackson Pkemoi said he received the news of Macharinyang’s death with shock.

“He started training again. He was preparing for a major come-back. As AK officials, we celebrate his achievements,” Pkemoi, who is also West Pokot’s AK executive committee member, said.

He won the 2007 Great Edinburgh Run and ran his half-marathon debut at the 2008 edition of the Stramilano 21km race, finishing fifth.

 Later that year, an injury-interrupted his career.

“A month ago, I met him in Iten where he was training and I sought to know where he had been. He promised to find time to explain to me what he has been doing. It is saddening that he has passed on,” AK North Rift official and coach Boniface Tiren said.