Success named to Paul Lonyangata – fifth NBK/AK National Cross Countries series, Race 5
As the fifth edition of the NBK/ AK National Cross Country series unfolded at Nyahururu today, instead of the veterans, it was the underdogs who successfully bagged the event.
The event featured four categories of competitions and none of them could witness the emergence of a pre-favourite.
The major reason for why only new faces prevailed in the event was that most of the big names did not attend the showdown. They went to Nairobi instead, to participate in the AK Golden Gala yesterday.
The field that joined the Nairobi showdown observed the participation of about 110 runners out of which 38 were gold medal winners from international athletics events.
During today’s meets, although the pouring rains had subsided for the day, however, the muddy surface still did not allow the runners to have an easy run.
With the conclusion of the race, the event titles were bestowed upon athletes like Paul Lonyangata, Margaret Wangari, Justin Cheruiyot and Mercy Kibowen. The total number of runners that appeared in all four events of the meet was 426.
In the senior men’s race, the general anticipations were in favour of Nicholas Togom, winner of the Tala and Chepkoilel contests, and Isaiah Kiplangat Koech, World junior indoor record holder. However, just like many of the senior performers, they too failed to turn up for the event.
The absence of the top guns was enjoyed by the bronze medal winner of the Moncton World Juniors 10,000m event. Taking full advantage of the situation, Lonyangata bagged the event title for hitting the finish-line in 36 minutes and 47 seconds.
Commenting on his success, the winner of the event said that although the course was hard but feeling strong near the finishing line, he went unleashing his best strides.
He said, “The course was difficult but I felt strong as we came for the finish. This will encourage me to aim for better performances in the remaining races”.
Similarly, taking advantage of the situation, rest of the three winners also found the opportunity to dish out the best of their performances.
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