Following Kenya’s sterling performance at the World Mountain and Trail Running Championships in Austria last week, Kenya will field full teams in the 2025 event to be held in Spain.
Athletics Kenya (AK) Mountain Running sub-committee chairman, Peter Angwenyi, said Kenya intends to field trail and junior runners in the 2025 event in Aragón, Spain.
Kenya won five gold, two silver and two bronze medals during the five-day championships held in Innsbruck, Austria. Kenya fielded only seven athletes in the event that concluded on Saturday afternoon.
Speaking after the team returned to the country on Sunday night, Angwenyi said Kenya intends to introduce trail running.
“Now that Mountain and Trail Running are part of the World Championships, we are planning to introduce the category in Kenya. We intend to have inaugural trail running events in Nyamira and Machakos,” said Angwenyi.
Angwenyi added: “Trail running is normally 40-50 km for short trails and 80km and above for long trails. However, we shall start with 25-km. Kenya has scenic mountains and hills where trail running can take place. We have a lot of talent and that’s why we want our athletes to diversify.”
Angwenyi said Kenya can use mountain and trail running to market the country as a tourist destination and also address the adverse effects of climate change.
“I want to appeal to the government to get more involved in mountain running by supporting the training of technical officials and coaches,” noted Angwenyi. He also added that more mountain running races are being lined up across the country.
