Police issue warrant of arrest: Big show as Kenya’s top guns battle for glory

Leonard Barsoton and Geoffrey Kamworor leads in senior men 10km race during the National Cross Country Championship at Uhuru Gardens on Feb 18, 2017.[PHOTO/DENNIS OKEYO/STANDARD]

The men in blue will stage a national cross-country meet at Ngong Race Course on Saturday.

The weekend promises to be action-packed as elite athletes battle it out in the National Police Service cross-country meeting at Ngong Race Course on Saturday.

For the second consecutive year, however, cross-country enthusiasts will miss the scintillating talent of former world cross-country champion Vivian Cheruiyot. 

Commonwealth Games 5,000m champion Mercy Cherono, who is on maternity leave, will also be missing in action.

But two-time world cross-country champion Geoffrey Kamworor is sure to warm fans' hearts as he seeks to sharpen his speed ahead of the World Marathon Majors races – having won the New York City Marathon last November.

"I am yet to confirm whether I will compete in London or Boston," said Kamworor.

Cheruiyot won the World Cross-Country junior and senior titles in 2000 and 2011, while Kamworor won in 2011 and 2015.

Kamworor, who began running as a student at Lelboinet Secondary School in Keiyo South, won his second world cross-country title in Kampala last year.

Meanwhile, Emmanuel Bett needs to be at his best to prove that his wins at the Athletics Kenya cross-country meetings – Olkalau and Sotik legs – as well as the Tuskys Wareng race in Eldoret, were not flukes.

Two-time world marathon champion Edna Kiplagat will lead the onslaught at the lush cross-country circuit. 

Kiplagat is celebrating 22 years of international athletics since winning a silver medal at the 1996 World Junior Championships in Sydney, Australia.

Africa cross-country silver medallist Janet Kisa and former Commonwealth Youth Games 1,500m champion Stasy Ndiwa are also expected to spice up the big field.

And it will be a re-enactment of the world cross-country championships in Kampala as three-time world 1,500m champion Asbel Kiprop leads his mixed relay teammate Winfred Mbithe in the title chase.

Others in the squad are Commonwealth Games 800m champion Eunice Sum and Bethwel Birgen as well as world 5,000m silver medallist Sylvia Kibet, defending champion Margaret Jelimo, Lucy Kabuu and former world cross-country junior silver medallist Prisca Jepleting.