Returning marathon winners feted

By JOHN KARIUKI

Athletics Kenya Eastern Branch officials arrived early at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport to give a rousing welcome to three of their marathon runners returning from Asia and Europe.

First to arrive was Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon winner Cyprian Kiogora. He was accompanied by Richard Mutisya, also a winner of the Mizumo Taiwan Marathon, and Julius Karinga, fresh from claiming second position in the Limassol Marathon in Cyprus.

Kiogora, a three-time winner of the famed Hong Kong race, clocked two hours, 20 minutes and 12 seconds to outpace the 2009 winner, his compatriot John Chirchir (2:23:30), who finished second. The runners from Meru led from the start in a crowded race that attracted 60,000 runners in the various categories and kept up with Chirchir before outsprinting him with three kilometres to the tape.

He blamed the humid conditions on the race day and a hilly section on the new course for his failing to set a faster time. “Last year I ran a fast race, clocking 2:14:57, but I’m now focusing for next year’s event,” said Kiogora on Friday.

Trained very hard

The relatively unknown Mutisya, from Machakos, was elated after clinching the Taiwan Mizumo title in 2:18:34. “I had trained very hard here at home for this event and was confident of beating the Ethiopian runners who had been dominating the event for the last three years,” Mutisya said.

Mutisya made his debut in the Kuala Lumpur Soghalah Marathon in 2008, where he finished seventh. Also arriving at the same time was Julius Karinga, another runner from Meru and also Kiogora’s training partner, who finished second with an impressive 2:14:02 in last weekend’s Limassol Marathon.

AK officials, led by national treasurer Joseph Kinyua and national vice-chairman Paul Mutwii, were delighted.“They [winners] have done our branch proud and have inspired other young people from [Eastern Province] to take up sports,” said Kinyua.