Momanyi, Kisorio steal show

Kenya’s seasoned elite runners stole the show in Sunday’s Sotokoto Half Marathon at Nairobi’s Uhuru Gardens, with quite a number of interesting side stories being told.

Commonwealth 10,000 metres champion Grace Momanyi clinched the women’s 21-kilometre title with Victor “Tyson” Kipchirchir knocking out his tormentor at last week’s Kabarak half marathon, Peter Kimeli Some, to grab the men’s honours.

And the winning times, for a race at altitude, were not too bad either, with Momanyi breasting the tape in 71 minutes and 42 seconds and Kipchirchir winning in 61:45.

Sunday’s race, organised by Kenya’s marathon legend Douglas Wakiihuri, was also attended by Japanese sports television celebrity, Sydney 2000 Olympic marathon gold medallist, Naoko Takahashi, currently on the roster of Tokyo Broadcasting Systems (TBS) as anchor and commentator.

It was a good morning too for Dutchman Gerard Van de Veen who was monitoring the proceedings from his base in Voorthuizen, the Netherlands, as his Volare Sports team scooped the top three places in the men’s 21km race with Kipchirchir, Some (61:46) and third placed Geoffrey Mutai (62:13), the fastest unofficial marathoner, the trio managed by Volare, sweeping the men’s podium.

The Volare stable also celebrated victory in the women’s 10km race where Filomena Chepchirchir Mbote (34:02.03) led Millicent Maina (34:18.6) and Polline Wanjiku (34:31.2) onto the podium.

The men’s 10km race title fell to Nicholas Kipchirchir (29:13.8).

It’s been a great season for “Tyson” so far as he earlier in the year won the famous City-pier-City Half Marathon in the Hague (59.31) before clinching the top position in the Goteborg Half Marathon in Sweden, running 60.24 and beating the course record by almost 25 seconds.

A third place (28:15) at the Bangalore 10km was to follow in India before he finished second to Some at Kabarak last weekend.
Second-placed Some was a star performer in a great family outing that saw his brother Mathew Kisorio finish fourth in the 21km and younger sibling Nicholas Kipchirchir clinch the 10km title.

Kisorio, the most decorated of the three, clocked 62:40, not bad for a jet-lagged man who had just landed in Nairobi barely 24 hours earlier after a long-haul trip from Atlanta, USA, where he finished third (27:39) behind race winner Peter Kirui (27:37) and former world 10km record holder Micah Kogo (also 27:39) at the Peachtree 10km Road Race.

“I was a bit tired after the long trip but I’m happy I ran well,” said Kisorio who added that he is preparing for October’s Chicago Marathon.

The three are sons of the great Some Muge, Kenya’s first world cross country medallist (bronze 1983).

Philes Ongori, this year’s Berlin Half Marathon champion, said her second place behind Momanyi (1:12.42) was a good dress rehearsal for bigger things to come: “My objective is to run a sub 2:20 at September’s Berlin Marathon and make my way into Kenya’s team to next year’s World Championships.”