Athletes from Taita Taveta County and its environs will soon have a high altitude training centre that will be constructed by organisers of the Safaricom Madoka Half Marathon.
Founder Major (Rtd) Marsden Madoka has revealed plans to construct a High Altitude Training Centre in Taita Taveta County.
Madoka, whose race will be celebrating 11 years since inception, said they want to go a step further and build a modern HATC.
“We are talking to several potential sponsors and the response has been impressive. We are not giving ourselves timelines in terms of completion but we want to ground-break by the end of the year,” said Madoka.
“We already have a piece of land to erect the centre. This is a personal dream I hope to achieve to not only benefit the locals but also athletes from other regions.”
This year’s edition of the Madoka Half Marathon, which will be staged on October 22, received a Sh3m boost from title sponsors Safaricom and Huawei (Sh2m).
“This event has over the years raised the bar for athletes in the Coast region, and we are hoping to make the region more attractive to athletes and sponsors by setting up this training centre,” added Madoka.
The event will have six race categories with champions John Mwangangi and Winfridah Moseti expected to defend their titles.
Winners in the 21Km race will pocket Sh500,000, runners-up will get Sh250,000 while bronze winners will receive Sh100,000.
Other events include 5KM Governor’s Race, which will be led by Taita Taveta Governor John Mruttu while the women’s edition of the race will be led by Taita Taveta County First Lady Hope Mruttu.
