Major marathons have been reduced to 10 km by organisers due to reduced sponsorship.
The annual Kisumu Marathon and Mombasa Marathon which are part of Safaricom Series will now cover 10km. Already, organisers of Safaricom Kisii Half Marathon are planning to hold a 10km road race in Kisii town on September 27 with winners walking away with Sh100, 000.
Athletics Kenya (AK) Nyanza North chairman Joseph Ochieng said sponsorship for the marathon has reduced from Sh2.5m to Sh 1 million.
“The money is not enough to enable us hold full marathon and that is why we opted for a 10k road race which will start and end at Jomo Kenyatta Sports Grounds in Kisumu. According to AK road running rules, winners of marathons should get at least Sh500, 000,” Ochieng added.
AK announced the stringent road races rules in 2012 but organisers of races did not implement the same. According to the rules, winners of 21km race are supposed to be given Sh250, 000. Ochieng regretted the decision but is confident that they will revert to full marathon in future if they get more sponsorship.
He said they are planning to host circuit events for youths and a race for athletes aged 35 years and above.“Our focus as Nyanza North is to identify and develop talent. That is why whenever we have major races, we must have races for junior athletes,”said Ochieng.
