Bristol record holder Munene, Wambui take Embu half titles

Bristol Half Marathon record holder Morris Munene and Pauline Wambui shared the top honours in the men and women races of the inaugural Red Cross Embu Mini Marathon which was held on Saturday.

The 21 year-old who trains at the Kigari High Altitude Training Camp breast the tape in 1:02:33 to prevail over a quality field in the men’s race.

Having led from the gun, Munene had to contend with a thrilling sprint for the finish over the final 200m when he was given hot chase by Peter Mwololo before he finally dispensed his last rival few metres to the tape.

Mwololo stopped the timer at 1:02:40 for the bridesmaid position ahead of international runner Francis Biwott who rounded the podium in 1:02:47 in the event launched to raise funds for Jomo Kenyatta Children’s Home.

“I was ready for this race but I had to fight with my rivals from the pack of six up to the 18K mark before the three of use surged forward.

“The course was well mapped and there was nothing to complain about,” the winner said.

In the women’s 21km showdown, Wangui was in a class of her own after towing the field home in 1:13:06.

The winner broke off her challengers after they covered 10km and never looked back as she powered away to her title.

Long after she had motored to the finish, Pauline Njeri led the challengers home in 1:15:07 as Maryann Wangari closed the top three in 1:15:17.

Simon Kiruthi ran 24:09 to win the men’s 9km race ahead of Cornelius Kosgei (24:14) and John Elimlim (24:43) as Mary Wanjiru took the corresponding women’s race in 28:05 with Mercy Njoroge (28:36) and Martha Njoroge (28:37) coming home behind her in that order.

Director of Sports in Embu County, Patrick Njagi revealed the event would become an annual affair that will be included in the Athletics Kenya calendar as he urged athletes from the area to turn out and help give the event an international outlook.