The 2018 Kass International Marathon winners are up in arms over the delayed payment of their cash awards.
The athletes are yet to be paid five months after the race held in November last year. The athletes, through their representative Cynthia Cherop, said despite raising the issue with the race organisers, they are yet to get satisfactory answers over the delay.
"The race organisers have failed to give us timelines on how and when the money will be paid," said Cherop. “We have been waiting for the payment for a long time yet nothing is coming through."
"After winning in any race, you start planning on what you can do with the money and when nothing is forthcoming fourth, you start wondering whether you were competing for free,” said Jerop who early this month finished second at the Los Angeles Marathon in USA.
When contacted, Kass international chief executive officer Julius Lemaon said they were waiting for the doping results before they can make payment.
Lemaon said they will give the payment schedule immediately after Eldoret City Marathon this Sunday in Eldoret and there should be no cause for alarm.
“We will use the regional Athletics Kenya offices to pay athletes and the payment schedule will soon be out,” he said.
However, Jerop insisted that the doping results are supposed to be out in three months and not five months. AK representative Milcah Chemos said she is yet to receive any complaints from athletes but promised to get to the bottom of the matter.
“So far I have not received any complaint from athletes but now that I have the information, I will make a follow up to ensure they are paid their dues,” said Chemos, the 2013 world 3,000m steeplechase champion.
According to the Kass marathon organisers, the winners in the main races (both genders) were to pocket Sh1.5 million while the runners up were to receive Sh500,000
