Kenya: Ngatuny And Chelimo Tops Safaricom Migori 10KM Road Race

Nairobi Star (Nairobi)

Angwenyi Gichana

23 July 2011

EMMANUEL Ngatuny and Rose Chelimo are the winners of the third edition of the Safaricom Migori 10km road race. Ngatuny overcame a late surge from Edwin Mokua and Nicholas Kipkemboi to win the race in 31:32.94.

Mokua, a secondary school student at Boruma, was second in 31:39.71 with Kipkemoi, who led for the better part of the race, finishing third in a time of 21:44.80.

Marathoner Abel Nyakundi finished outside the top ten bracket after suffering an injury. “I wanted to use the race to improve my speed but I aggravated a nagging injury,” he said. Ngatuny, a brother to Japan-based Gideon Ngatuny said: “The race was tough and the weather was harsh but I am happy to have won.”

Chelimo, a seasoned road racer, clinched the women’s race after posting 37:18.80. She was closely followed by Merceline Ondieki who clocked 38:08.82 and Borness Chepkirui, who finished third in 38:09.37. “The cold weather affected us and we did not expect it to be like this. The race was not that bad though,” she said.

The race was flagged off at Mabera Shopping Centre by Athletics Kenya (AK) public relations officer and Nyanza South chairman Peter Angwenyi. Migori TTC principal Paul Kokelo was the chief guest.

The race was the third and last in a three part series dubbed the South Nyanza tour sponsored by Safaricom. Awendo hosted the first race while the second took place at Rongo. Stephen Oyaro, 63, was the oldest finisher beating some young athletes to finish 57th. Top ten runners in each race received cash awards .

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