Kenya’s marathon team to the World Championships will continue doing their training at their various camps ahead of the global event scheduled for Eugene, Oregon, USA, from July 15 to 24.
The men’s marathon race will be held on July 17, the third day of the championships, while the women’s race will be on the following day.
In the past, marathon team has always been selected and placed in a camp where they would train together for two to three months but Athletics Kenya have changed tack this year.
Athletics Kenya President Jack Tuwei said the team was selected following their performance in the last season.
The team will be led by Valencia Marathon champion Lawrence Cherono, who is the captain deputised by Olympic marathon champion Peres Jepchirchir.
Others in the team are former world marathon champion Geoffrey Kirui, 2019 Hong Kong Marathon champion Barnabas Kiptum and former New York Marathon champion Geoffrey Kamworor.
The women’s team consists of defending champion Ruth Chepng’etich, Judith Korir the Paris Marathon champion and Amsterdam Marathon champion Angela Tanui.
“Today we met the marathon team and their coaches and we wanted to know how they are faring on and make sure they get the right support as we head towards the championships which is only a month away,” said Tuwei during the team’s unveiling on Friday.
He added that the final team shall be named after the national trials at the Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani where a full team for the World Championships shall be named.
During the trials, the federation is also expected to name another team that will be heading to the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, Great Britain from July 28-8 August.
Cherono told journalists that preparations are ongoing well and they are happy as a team that the federation gave them a chance to represent Kenya and they will be doing all that it takes to bring medals home.
“We are going to run as a team and our prayer is to compete well and make sure we bring medals home. We are aware that the race will be competitive but our hope is to be in good health so that we can finish the race in good positions because the team looks strong,” said Cherono.
Chepng’etich on her part said that she has been training well in Ngong, Kajiado County and her dream is to defend her title when she lines up for the race.
“It will be a tight race for me considering that I will be competing with the Olympics champion my friend Jepchirchir and other athletes from various countries but I believe in my training and I want to just run well,” she said.
The team is guided by coach Patrick Sang and the athlete’s representative Milka Chemos while the full official team shall be named next weekend. BY DAILY NATION