Abraham Chebii wins 5000 metres in Paris (© Getty Images)
Six athletes, none of them with an impressive local or international record, will line up for the finals of Athletics Kenya weekend cross country meeting series which has a top cash prize of US$15,000 at a teachers college near Eldoret on Saturday.
This year to take share of the jackpot an athlete had to win at least three races including this weekend’s final to qualify for the money.
Under these conditions the biggest worry for the six remaining contenders - Nelson Kiplagat, Moses Masai (junior), Elizabeth Rumokal, Fridah Domongole, Penina Chepchumba, and Gladys Chemweno (junior) - is the presence of more renowned athletes who even if they have not taken part in the rest of the series always turn up in large numbers in the penultimate round, an event traditionally used by Kenyans to set off their World Cross Country Championships campaign.
Of the six contenders the only senior man is Nelson Kiplagat, and he must have sighed with relief after hearing Abraham Chebii's announcement yesterday (Thursday 8 Jan) that he will skip the meeting in preference to races in Spain. Chebii was fourth in Sotik two weeks ago in a race won by former world half marathon champion Paul Koech.
Chebii, 2003 track revelation at 5000m who took high profile victories over the Ethiopian maestros Haile Gebrselassie and Kenenisa Bekele before his World championship ambitions were spolit by a freak road accident before Paris world's, said he will be gunning for the World cross title in Brussels.
"In Sotik I wanted to have a feel of my body and am feeling okay to compete in Spain before returning home to prepare for the World Cross Country Championships. Maybe my rivalry with Bekele will start early this year in Brussels," said Chebii.
Last year he notched two third places in Spanish races before returning home for the nationals. Though Chebii did not focus on last year’s championships in Lausanne he still finished a strong eighth in the Kenyan trials but did not make the team.
"I know Bekele is very experienced in cross country while I am a newcomer. It will be exciting to see how I will shape up in coming weeks."
There will be other new ‘names’ missing on Saturday. David Kabiru, winner of the second weekend meeting and third in the third meeting has skipped Saturday's final meeting for personal reasons. Sammy Karanja, winner in the third meet also will be missing as he has international engagements lined up.
The contenders...
Of those racing in Eldoret on Saturday among the contestants for this prize are Prison warder Nelson Kiplagat who was the winner in Nairobi and Kisii, and the junior Moses Masai.
After losing to Stanley Muiruri in the first race of the calendar in Nairobi on October 24, Masai went on to win the next three junior races, always overwhelmingly against the opposition but failed to extend this to four after skipping Sotik where local boy Edwin Soi emerged victorious.
There are three senior women contenders, Elizabeth Rumokal, seventh in the world's last year and Fridah Domongole, one of the two 2002 jackpot winners, and Penina Chepchumba. All three women have taken two wins a piece in the series but their ambitions could face a serious challenge if former World Junior Cross Championships medallists Vivian Cheruiyot, Alice Timbilil and Viola Kibiwot decide to compete.
The final athlete in contention is women’s junior Gladys Chemweno who won the third and fourth races in the series.
Last year the jackpot was shared by future World junior cross and senior World 5000m track champion Eliud Kipchoge, Abraham Cherono, Monica Wangare and Peninah Chepchumba.
Peter Njenga (Daily Nation, Nairobi) and the IAAF
