Agnes Mumbua and Lawi Kosgei took the honours in the 2022 Tespok Autism Half Marathon held on Sunday at Nyayo Stadium.
Mumbua timed 1:10:27 to cross the finish line ahead of Lilian Chebii and Beatrice Cherubet who placed second and third in 1:10:56 and 1:10:57 respectively.
Kosgei crossed the finish line in 1:01:49 as Meshack Lelgut and Victor Chepkwony placed second (1:01:51) and third (1:02:32) respectively.
A happy Kosgei attributed his win to favourable weather conditions. “The race has been good and the weather was okay,” Kosgei said.
He added that he is looking forward to competing in next weekend’s Athletics Kenya Cross-country meeting which will be held in Iten.
He said he is also hoping to make Team Kenya for next year’s World Cross-country Championships in Bathurst, Australia.
“I am targeting to race at the AK cross-country meeting in Iten and hopefully make it to the national trials next year,” he said.
Kosgei condemned the doping menace that has tainted the country’s image, saying it is not a good thing and the violators need to face the consequences.
“Everyone should run clean…the secret is always to train well and in good time ahead of championships,” he added.
Meanwhile, Mumbua lauded the efforts of the government in ensuring the violators pay the price for their unlawful actions. “The actions taken are okay because I believe everyone will have to run clean,” she said.
In the 10km category, Shadrack Kipchirchir led the men’s field in 30:43 as Bernard Kibet and Simon Mutula settled for second and third places in 31:00 and 31:11 respectively.
In the women’s category, Jessica Chelagat won the race in 33:36 as Vicoty Chepngeno and Eddy Chemchor settled for second (34:02) and third (34:56) places respectively.
