Defend champions Daniel Muindi and Devlin Meringor will be back at the energy-sapping course for another shot at the Marsden Madoka Half Marathon titles in Ngerenyi, Taita Taveta County today.
Muindi, a Machakos Athletics Club athlete, is fresh from finishing second at the Sanlam Cape Town Marathon timing 2:09:25 on September 15 in South Africa.
The 24-year-old roadrunner has a half marathon personal best of 1:02:05 timed two and a half years ago in The Hague. Last year, Muindi timed 1:06.04 to win the men's race as Rift Valley's Devlin Meringor timed 71.16.1 to clinch the women's crown.
Muindi beat Stephen Mwendwa and George Njoroge to the second and third in a time of 1:06.56 and 1:06:67 respectively. Mwendwa and Njoroge too, return to the give another stub at the race title.
The huge field of runners who have entered the race will battle the hilly terrains in Wundanyi before heading to the finish line at the Ngerenyi Farmer Training College.
Former cabinet minister Major (Rtd) Marsden Madoka, the event’s patron recapped that the marathon is aimed at tapping the athletics potential among the locals.
“This event is aimed at unearthing the potential among the young athletes from the region and I am impressed with the size of enrollment by the area natives,” said Madoka, a former Kenya Boxing Federation president.
The 14th edition of the marathon, funded by Kenya Ports Authority, Safaricom, Brookside Dairy, Kenya Commercial Bank and Kenya Civil Aviation Authority will see top ten finishers pocket lucrative sums of money.
Madoka Half Marathon men and women winners will pocket Sh300,000 each, while second-placed runners will get Sh150,000 and third-placed athletes will earn Sh100,000.
