News21 Nov 2002


Chepchumba to run Iten 10km

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Chepchumba wins the New York Marathon (© Getty Images)

  The recently crowned 2002 New York City Marathon champion Joyce Chepchumba of Kenya, will lead a strong field of elite women athletes in a 10km road race in Iten, some 450-km north west of Nairobi, this Saturday 23 November 2002.

The 10k has been organised by fellow elite marathoner Lornah Kiplagat, to celebrate the two year anniversary of her High Altitude Training Centre which is situated at 2300 metres above sea level in Iten, some 20-km north of Kenya's North Rift Valley provincial city Eldoret, an area which is renowned for producing world-class distance runners.

Chepchumba, who won the New York City Marathon on November 3, will lead the entire Kenyan team who ran in New York in the Iten race, which this year has attracted athletes from Scotland, Tanzania and Uganda.

The Kenyan line up includes Kiplagat, who finished eighth, last year's winner in New York Margaret Okayo, who finished seventh this year, and Esther Kiplagat, who was fifth.

The former holder of the world marathon best Catherine Ndereba, who lost that fastest mark when finishing second to Briton Paula Radcliffe 2:17:18 clocking in Chicago last month, will also be in the Iten race.

"My body has not fully recovered but I will run in the race to promote women in athletics," said Chepchumba, who has also won the London (1997 & 1999) and Chicago (1998 & 1999) Marathon’s twice, and the Tokyo race in 2000.

The 28-year old Kiplagat, who can boast her own impressive marathon pedigree with wins in Los Angeles (1997 & 1998), Rotterdam (1999) and Osaka (2001) established the altitude camp in the Rift Valley two years ago.
 
"Our aim is to provide perfect training conditions for Kenyan women who excel at junior level but somehow disappear thereafter. This is my effort to do something for junior athletes in order to bring them to world class," said Kiplagat.

The centre is also the base for a few male athletes, who include Amsterdam marathon champion Benjamin Kosgei Kimutai and Christopher Cheboiboch, runner-up in Boston and New York City marathons.

Omulo Okoth for IAAF

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