Why Memorial Agnes Tirop Tour is unique

 

Under-20 youths participate in the 8k race during AK National Cross Country held at Lobo village grounds in Eldoret on January 22, 2022. [Peter Ochieng, Standard]

At exactly 10am on Saturday, the stars will have gathered inside Lobo Village in Uasin Gishu County ready to clash in the most spectacular fashion imaginable.

The Memorial Agnes Tirop World Country Gold Tour, which comes to not only Kenya but Africa for the first time, promises a cocktail of hope and intrigue as it always does.

It will be a spectacular sight to behold watching Kenyans take cross country big shots from across the globe and particularly perennial rivals Ethiopia and Uganda on the energy-sapping course.

Kenyans have staged good shows in such course–with 2007 world cross country championships inside a picturesque seaside Mombasa Golf course as the highlight.

And the battle at Lobo Village in the heart of North Rift, the Mecca of world’s distance runners, will no doubt result in a dogfight.

The duel would seek to confirm the maxim that it’s the region where speed meets endurance, where races are planned and executed with military precision.

The picturesque course is similar to Myslecinek Park in Bydgoszcz, Poland, which hosted the 2010 World Cross Country Championships in 2010–Kenya swept all the medals on offer.

Organisers have erected a muddy barrier 200m from the start before a hay obstacle at the 1km mark on a stretch overlooking expansive farms in Kapseret.

There are two soil heaps. But the most difficult barrier is a 10m mud pit that posed a big challenge to athletes during the National Cross Country Championships on January 22.

A large water pan that was created from a swamp at the Village that has been hosting weddings and watch parties has been spruced up to enhance the course’s magnificence.

A festival arena which was to be set up in the middle of the lush Lobo Village grounds was shifted to an area near the VIP dais.

Kazoki Ngeria dancers, dressed in cultural attire, entertained athletics enthusiasts and fans with traditional songs during the National Cross Country Championships and organisers say will enchant global audiences on Saturday.

“We will re-look at the depth of the muddy ground. We will make it a little bit shallow so that athletes don’t leave their shoes behind,” Barnaba Korir, the Athletics Kenya executive committee member and Youth Development director, said.

Last month, Athletics Kenya said athletes who took part in the World Cross Tour series in Europe such as Cardiff Cross Challenge, Cardiff in Great Britain and Cross Internacional Zornoza, Amorebieta (Spain), Campaccio International Cross Country, San Giorgio su Legnano and Cinque Mulini, San Vittore Olona (Italy) among others, would be invited to the Eldoret showpiece.