Kebirigo champions land Addis invite

The men’s and women’s winners of the Safaricom Gusii Golden Series jackpot at Friday’s 10th Safaricom Kebirigo Road Race will have extra reason to smile.

Besides pocketing a good cash award, they will also be entered in the Great Ethiopian Run organised by legendary Ethiopian runner Haile Gebreselassie.

There was more support for Friday’s race when Daima, a franchise of Sameer Agriculture and and Livestock Limited, presented over 1,000 bottles of mineral water through Kiran Dhotre, the general manager (marketing).

Gebrselassie on Wednesday said through the Great Ethiopian Run’s chief executive and race director Ermias Ayele, the two runners will land an expenses-paid trip to the annual Ethiopian race to be held on November 24 on the streets of Addis Ababa.

He is preparing for next month’s Fukuoka Marathon.

The Great Ethiopian Run, sponsored by the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia, is Africa’s biggest road race with over 30,000 runners expected this year.

It is similar to the huge field that turned up in last year’s race where the star performer at the Safaricom Gusii Golden Series, Nicholas Kipkemboi, was invited and finished a commendable third.

Last year’s Addis race was won by local boy Musnet Geremew (28 minutes, 37 seconds) with another Ethiopian, Yigrem Demelash, second in 28:44; and Kipkemboi (28:47) third.

Everything in place

The women’s race was an Ethiopian sweep as the title went to Abebech Afework (32:59) with London Olympic marathon champion Tiki Gelana (33:06) second and Atsede Habtamu (33:12) third.

“We are happy to have the top runners from the Safaricom Gusii Golden Series coming to Addis as this is part of a partnership we are working on with Kenyan athletics,” Ermias said.

“Next year, we look forward to bringing a team from Ethiopia to run in the Kisii series and Haile is excited about this relationship.”

Last year, as part of the celebrations marking the Addis run’s 10th anniversary, race director Ermias and fellow race organisers – founder Haile and Richard Nerukar - organised a media seminar for Ethiopian journalists conducted fun runs for children and the disabled prior to the main competition.

In Kebirigo, the chairman of the Safaricom Kebirigo Road Race’s organising committee, David Ondieki, said registration fees for athletes on Friday will be Sh100 and registration will start at 6.30am at the starting point in Nyabite Market just outside Nyamira town.

“Everything is in place and we expect a very fierce race for the jackpot and we urge athletes to come early and register,” Ondieki said.

Former two-time IAAF World Cross Country Championships gold medallist Philip Mosima and 2010 Boston Marathon champion Caroline Kilel lead on points in the Gusii Golden Series jackpot race.