•Under head coach Joseph Ngure, the group led by Lucy Murigi, the women’s defending champion are camping in Naivasha, where Athletics Kenya launched a camp last year
•“My target now is to defend my title in Argentina as we seek to make the discipline more popular among Kenyans,” —Murigi
With the athletics focus on next week’s New York Marathon, a different group of Kenyan runners are preparing for an equally different discipline, mountain running, whose global championships are set for Argentina next month.
Under head coach Joseph Ngure, the group led by Lucy Murigi, the women’s defending champion are camping in Naivasha, where Athletics Kenya launched a camp last year, with the aim of venturing deep into the not-so-popular event, despite recent successes.
“I started running on the mountains in Austria in 2014 and after competing in several local races, I realised I had the talent. The same year, my management decided that I should represent Kenya at the World Mountain Running Championships in Casette di Massa, Italy in 2014,” said Murigi.
Murigi clocked 47:49 to finish second in the 9km race, behind Mary Andrea of Austria (45:07) with the other Kenyan, Viola Jelagat fifth in 49:01. Isaac Toroitich was a distant 16th in the men’s race, clocking 58:46 with Ugandans sweeping the medal places.
“However, it was impossible for us to compete at the 2015 and 2016 editions due to lack of support but after reorganising ourselves, we managed to compete at the 2017 edition, where I won my first gold medal,” added Murigi.
In the edition held in Premana, Italy, Murigi topped the chart in the 13km race in a time of 1:01:26 while the men’s team of Robert Surum, Eric Riungu and Stephen Ndege finished ninth, 31st and 35th respectively.
A year later in Canillo, Andorra, Murigi retained her title after clocking 1:04:55 in the 12km race with Mathys Maude of Switzerland spoiling a Kenyan 1-2 by clocking 1:06:00 for a second while Jelagat timed 1:06:26 for third. The other Kenyan, Joyce Muthoni was 13th in 1:11:20.
The men’s team of Timothy Kimutai, Geoffrey Gikuni and Japhet Mutwiri were 14th, 23rd and 33rd, with Ugandans sweeping the podium again.
Murigi finished second, behind Andrea in the World Cup circuit last year with Purity Kajuju ninth in the women’s edition while Gikuni won the men’s series as Kimutai finished fifth.
“My target now is to defend my title in Argentina as we seek to make the discipline more popular among Kenyans,” she said.
“Our biggest challenge is lack of support because, despite there being a government award system to reward medallists at major championships, I am yet to receive anything.”
“We hope that we are going to get this support now that we are doing well not only in the World Championships but also the World Cup. The government and the federation should venture into our event by giving us the support we need, just like the other disciplines.”
“It is also my wish to be a role model to future mountain runners but this must be a collective undertaking from all the stakeholders.”
“Ugandan men have been dominant at both the World Championships and World Cup circuit but that doesn’t mean they are more talented than the Kenyans.”
Ngure revealed that Kenya joined the World Mountain Running Association in 2014 and since then, there has been remarkable growth despite limited resources.
He added that Mountain Running is now part of Athletics Kenya calendar with Peter Angwenyi the chairman.
“At the moment, we are preparing a team for the World Championships in Argentina on November 16, where we want to send athletes in all the categories; junior men and women as well as the seniors, where Gikuni and Murigi will be our main protagonists,” said Ngure.
“We are getting support from AK, where they have promised to kit us and provide the air tickets. We also want to spread this gospel of mountain running and we are glad that there is a camp coming up in Meru as we plan for another in Nandi Hills.”
“We want to sensitise locals in areas on Marakwet, Mount Kenya region and Kisii to ensure that more athletes join mountain running,” said Ngure. “However, we still don’t have the steep mountains like there are in other countries like Italy, Germany and Austria.”
Heading to Argentina next month, Ngure said apart from seeing Murigi and Jelagat keep their places on the podium, they also hope to see the men perform better and end Uganda’s dominance.
Ngure said about 10 athletes, six men and four ladies are the current Kenyan specialists but they want to nurture more as time goes by as they seek to diversify on Kenya’s prowess in athletics.
According to the IAAF, the philosophy of mountain running is based on the time factor, how to reach the finish taking the defined way as fast as possible.
Mountain races take place over an infinite variety of distance, ascent, descent and terrain. Distances range from short 15-minute sprints to long several hour treks, and there are courses that suit every ability and age group and are designed to eliminate the danger.
Equipment is not allowed, so bags, sticks, ropes, compasses or similar equipment are not allowed. IAAF rule 250.10 defines the distances and heights for men, women and juniors for both uphill only and uphill/downhill courses.
The World Mountain Running Association (WMRA) was born in 1984 as the International Committee of Mountain Running (ICMR). In 1985, it first staged ‘the World Trophy’, attracting entries from more than 30 countries. In 2002, the IAAF Congress officially recognised it as an International Competition as defined by IAAF Rule 1 and in 2009 the name was changed to the Mountain Running World Championships, with nowadays more than 40 nations taking part.
Four mountain running continental championships (Africa, Europe, North America, South America) are held every year, plus Commonwealth Championships and Balkan Championships. WMRA annually stages a Long Distance Challenge, a Youth International Cup and a Grand Prix, while a World Masters Mountain Running Championships is organised together with the WMA.