Elite athletes set to battle it out at AK Cross County in Machakos

A large number of elite athletes are expected to take part in the first Athletics Kenya (AK) Cross Country meeting at the Machakos Teachers Training College set for this Saturday with most of them using the event to shake off the rust as the new 2019-2020 Athletics calendar kicks off in earnest.

AK senior Vice-President in charge of competitions Paul Mutwi says the soon to be introduced jackpot is also a motivation to many athletes who will be required to take part in several series in order to qualify.

“Machakos is not far from Nairobi so we are expecting quite a number of athletes, before the registration is closed.

“Being the first race of the season some will be using this event to gauge themselves before the season gains momentum,” Mutui told Citizen Digital.

Defending men’s 10km champion, Bomet based Julius Tanki has already confirmed his title defence. Last year, Tank clocked 30:26 to win the 10km race.

Also expected to feature is World U20 3,000m silver medalist Leonard Kipkemoi Bett who won the 8km junior race. He is set to feature in the senior race.

“The award price is attractive being awarded up to the top eight finishers, and we will also be looking at selecting the best from each event to make the national trials, where the team for the African championship in Togo will be selected,” he added.

The Machakos meet will kick start the new Cross Country season with Sotik set to host the second meet on December 14 as Ol Kalaou host the third meet on December 21.

Kapsokwony will host the fourth meet on December 28 with Iten primed to host the fifth and final Cross- Country meet on January 4.  The National Cross Country Championships cum trials for Africa Cross Country Championships will take place on 8th February in Nairobi.