Anti-doping day to start off new Kenyan season
What you need to know:
- Kenya’s Geoffrey Kamworor and Peres Jepchirchir won men and women’s crown in the last World Half Marathon held 2016 in Cardiff, Wales.
- Kenya will also send a team to the World Under-20 Championships due July 10-15 in Tampere, Finland.
Athletics Kenya has introduced Anti-Doping Day to its calendar of events starting next season.
AK president Jackson Tuwei announced on Thursday that the Anti-Doping Day on November 2 at the county level will mark the start of the new season.
“All our county affiliates with the help of the national office and doping authorities will organise activities that help sensitise on the dangers of doping in sports,” said Tuwei while releasing the new 2017/2018 calendar of events.
Tuwei said they intend to send strong teams for the Commonwealth Games and Africa Cross Country Championships despite the two events coming up early next year.
Commonwealth Games that are usually held in August have been brought forward to April 8 to 15 in Gold Coast, Australia while the Africa Cross Country Championships will be held on March 17 in Chlef, Algeria.
Even though it’s not the first time the “Club” Games are being held early in the year, Tuwei said Kenyan athletes will now have to adjust their training programmes for early preparations.
EARLY PROGRAMME
The Track and Field Championships will now start five months earlier with the first four of the eight meets held in that period.
The first leg will be being held on November 18 in Bondo followed by second leg in Kisii on December 2. The third leg will be in Machakos on December 16 before Eldoret hosts the fourth leg on December 30.
The Commonwealth Games trials are planned for March 8 to 10 at Nyayo Stadium in Nairobi.
The Track and Field competition will resume with the Kakamega leg on April 27 to 28 at Bukhungu Stadium followed by the sixth leg on May 4 to 5 at Mbaraki, Mombasa.
Thika will host the seventh leg on May 11 to 12 while Kericho Green Stadium will for the first time stage a meet on May 18-19.
The Regional and Institutional Track and Field Competitions will be held in June before paving way for the Regional and Institutional Championships.
The National Championships are set for July 13 to 14 where a team will be selected for the Africa Senior Championships planned for August 1 to 5 in Assaba, Nigeria.
AK director of competitions Paul Mutwii explained that the programme for AK Cross Country Series, which has five events, will remain the same starting on November 4 in Nairobi but noted that they will not be held on the weekend that has track and field competitions.
From Nairobi, the cross country Series will head to Sotik, Nyandarua and Iten before ending on December 23 in Kapsokwony. They will pave way before the Kenya Defence, Kenya Police, Kenya Prisons, Kenya Universities and Regional Series in January.
The National Cross Country Championships will be held on February 10 where Team Kenya for the Africa Cross Country Championships.
Kenya also hopes to send teams for the World Indoor Championships planned for March 1-4 in Birmingham, England and World Half Marathon Championships on March 24 in Valencia, Spain.
Kenya’s Geoffrey Kamworor and Peres Jepchirchir won men and women’s crown in the last World Half Marathon held 2016 in Cardiff, Wales.
Kenya will also send a team to the World Under-20 Championships due July 10-15 in Tampere, Finland.
