AK to take action on Stanchart Marathon cheat Mwangi

Athletics Kenya (AK) Nairobi Branch Chairman Barnabas Korir has promised to deal accordingly with athletes who reap where they did not sow following the shameful incident where John Mwangi Nyaruai tried to cheat his way to victory in the men 21km race of Sunday’s Nairobi Standard Chartered International Marathon.

Mwangi who hails from Timau registered for the 42 km event but later disappeared along the way and tried to cheat his way to pocket the Ksh150,000 prize money set aside for the half-marathon winner.

When questioned by the media, the 43 year-old gave contradictory information as the race organisers pounced on his ruse and stripped him of his ‘victory’.

“I have trained for four months for the race. I have run in this marathon several times,” Mwangi claimed.

When pressed further, the cheat who could not recognise the leaders of his race then contradicted himself.

“I have not run the Standard Chattered Marathon for the last four years. I followed a group of female elite runners who were doing 42km and they lost me in town,” the athlete who was in training shoes mumbled.

Speaking on the matter, Korir said his Executive Committee will meet in the course of the week to find a way forward in curbing the cheating menace that has plagued the race for the second year in a row.

“We don’t know the athletes who commit these crimes since they have never ran anywhere before and Athletics Kenya does not recognize them. We can’t take criminal action against him however we shall revisit the IAAF rules and take stern action against them.

“Athletes who do not give their whereabouts for the doping program are assumed to be positive and sanctioned. So the same should apply to those who cheat. They should be sanctioned from participating in any local or international races. This is the only way we can weed our cheats in our races,” Korir told Citizen Digital on phone.

The Nairobi AK boss was also worried that the rising number of cheats could hurt the marathon which was sanctioned by the world governing body last year.

“I’m sure there are some athletes who get away with cheating especially those who do not take the top three positions but take the top 10 places. It’s hard to know who cheated or not but it’s time we started using tracking chips because this might be going on in other small races across the country,” the disgruntled Korir said.

Last year where Julius Njogu tried to cheat his way to victory in the 42 km event  before he was arrested shortly afterwards.

The half marathon was won by Reuben Limaa who stopped the timer in 1:02:53 while Dominic Kipyegon (1:03:14) and Kenneth Rotich (1:03:27) finished second and third.