KDF big guns ready to fire
Geoffrey Kirui (left) competes with Mark Kiptoo (centre) ahead of Leonard Oloitiptip during last year's Kenya Defence Force (KDF) Cross Country championship 12km senior men race at the Kahawa Garrison on January 16, 2014. The championship which had earlier been called off in honour of soldiers killed in an attack on a KDF camp in Somalia by Al-Shabaab terrorists on January 15, will now take place on Friday at Nyahururu Town. PHOTO | CHRIS OMOLLO |
What you need to know:
- The championship is slated for a windswept venue neighbouring the Nyahururu Golf Club on the outskirts of the town.
- In the men’s race, defending champion Moi Air Base’s (MAB) Geoffrey Kirui faces stiff challenge from former champions Leonard Oloitiptip, who was third at last year’s competition held at Nairobi’s Kahawa Barracks, and the 2014 Frankfurt Marathon champion Mark Kiptoo of Laikipia Air Base (LAB).
- In the women’s race, Selah Jepleting will face off with strong opponents among them World Half Marathon champion Gladys Cherono and 2014 New York Marathon silver medallist Jemimah Chelagat who finished in that order behind her at the Kahawa Barracks last year.
The postponed 36th edition of the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) Cross Country Championships will be held in Nyahururu on Friday.
The competition had earlier been scheduled for last Friday in Thika but was called off in honour of soldiers killed in an attack on a KDF camp in Somalia by Al-Shabaab terrorists on January 15.
The championship is slated for a windswept venue neighbouring the Nyahururu Golf Club on the outskirts of the town.
In the men’s race, defending champion Moi Air Base’s (MAB) Geoffrey Kirui faces stiff challenge from former champions Leonard Oloitiptip, who was third at last year’s competition held at Nairobi’s Kahawa Barracks, and the 2014 Frankfurt Marathon champion Mark Kiptoo of Laikipia Air Base (LAB).
Kirui finished 13th at the 2013 IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland.
WOMEN'S RACE
In the women’s race, Selah Jepleting, who cut giants to size last year, is out to prove that her victory was not a fluke.
Prior to winning the KDF title, Jepleting represented Kenya at the 2013 World Championships in Moscow. She bowed out in the semi-finals.
Jepleting will face off with strong opponents among them World Half Marathon champion Gladys Cherono and 2014 New York Marathon silver medallist Jemimah Chelagat who finished in that order behind her at the Kahawa Barracks last year.
The women’s race promises to be mouth-watering, as former Boston Marathon winner Sharon Cherop of Armour Brigade, will be in action.
