Your time is up! Young athletes warn veterans ahead of Eldoret race

With less than a week remaining to the highly anticipated National Cross Country Champions slated for Eldoret Sports Club, focus shifts on how athletes are polishing up ahead of the bruising battle.

Of particular interest will be men’s senior race which has attracted an enviable field of in form athletes making it difficult to point the favourite.

World Under-20 champion in 10,000m Rhonex Kipruot has opted to take on his seniors including defending champion Geoffrey Kamworor, World Cross Country silver medallist Leonard Barsoton, Edwin Makau, Kennedy Njiru among many other A-list athletes.

Kipruto, who’s been training in Iten under Irish coach Bro Colm 'O Connell, says that he’s going for nothing but victory in the Saturday meet. “I believe I have trained enough and have got experience to win on Saturday. It will be competitive but I will do my best to win the race,” Kipruto told Nation Sport.

The young prospect says that he respects his seniors and admires Kamworor’s running style but he believes that there’s need for change, and he wants to beat him.

“I think it’s our time as upcoming athletes to take the mantle and make the sport more interesting. I have seen the route map and I think the course is good though it’s slightly different from the one we have used before.”

“I have no problem with the weather because I have trained in rain and sunshine and that won't matter."

Kipruto announced his presence to the world when he missed a world record by two seconds in Prague 10km road race last year as he clocked 26:46 making him the second fastest athlete behind Leonard Komon.

It will be interesting to see how he will compete against his stable mate, Lawi Komen, who will be running under Kenya Defence Forces banner. Lawi, the Kapsokwony Athletics Kenya Cross Country winner, is currently in camp with his KDF colleagues at Eldoret Show Grounds.

On his part, Kamworor believes that he is still has years left in him and he will give those who think that he is a spent force a hard time at Eldoret Sports Club.

"After winning in the National Police Championships in Nairobi, I have been preparing well for this race. Yes there are good upcoming athletes including Kipruto but I'm ready to face them," said Kamworor.

Kamworor is familiar with the conditions predicted on Saturday, sunny and windy afternoon in Eldoret. He ran under similar conditions in Kampala in 2017.

"The race is taking place in the afternoon and I have no problem with that because I ran in Kampala under similar conditions and I was able to deliver good results.”

Other upcoming athletes to watch include World Under-20 silver medallist Stanley Waithaka who will be representing Central region alongside his friend World Under-20 champion in 5,000m Edward Zakayo from North Rift region.

Zakayo believes that he has what it takes to get a ticket to the World Cross Country Championships. "It's my first cross country event and I believe I have done enough training and I will battle it out with my seniors for a slot in team Kenya."

The event is being held outside Nairobi for the first time and will be rotating among participating counties according to AK president Gen. Jack Tuwei.

Athletics Kenya will be meeting with athletes agents and managers at the Noble Hotel on Thursday while athletes who will be participating in the event will attend an anti-doping seminar on Friday at the same hotel.

Saturday will be the climax of the event with various communities showcasing their traditions in the morning before the race starts in the afternoon.