Nairobi — Organisers of this Sunday's StanChart Marathon have revealed they will enact measures to ensure only rightful and honest winners are rewarded at the annual road race.
Local Organising Committee chair Peter Gitau said they are collaborating with Athletics Kenya (AK) and Anti-Doping Agency of Kenya (ADAK) to curb would-be doping offenders and to monitor all runners throughout the race.
"As with the previous years, we plan to run a very credible marathon. We are working closely with ADAK and AK to use technology... chip technology as a matter of fact to track the runners throughout the race. We will also conduct anti-doping tests after the race. This will complement the services of the Race Technical Director, Route Marshals and CCTV cameras along the course to deliver a world-class marathon and experience to all participants," Gitau said.
The country currently finds itself in the midst of doping crisis as more of its athletes continue to incur the wrath of Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) for various doping offences ranging from whereabout failures to use of prohibited substances.
Two-time Rotterdam Marathon champion Marius Kipserem is the latest culprit to find himself in AIU's bad books after he was slapped with a three-year ban for use of the prohibited substance EPO.
This year's StanChart Marathon is the second one in the post-Covid era and is expected to attract thousands of participants after a lull in 2020 owing to the virus.
Gitau encouraged interested participants to continue registering for the annual event, noting that over 14,000 people have thus far signed up to compete across the five race categories.
"So far, we have 15, 500 participants who have registered for the event. Registration is ongoing on the website and kit collection is happening here at Uhuru Gardens. The deadline for registration is on Friday (28th October)," he said.
Out of this number are approximately 172 elite runners expected to run in the full marathon, including 2013 London Marathon champion Prisca Jeptoo, Asbel Kipsang, Bravin Kiprop, Asbel Kipruto, Ezra Kipketer and Shyline Jepkorir, among others.
This year's race categories include: 42km (men and women), 21km (men and women), 21km wheelchair race, 5km family fun run, 10km and 42km marathon corporate relay.
Gitau said the road race keeps getting bigger and better, promising athletics enthusiast of a day of entertainment.
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"This year, we have a 42km relay run for persons with disabilities where the winning relay team will be awarded Ksh 100,000. The total prize money for this year's event will be Ksh 10.6 million," Gitau said.
The first race of the day will be the 21km wheelchair run at 6:30 a.m. whereas the 5km family run will bring down the curtains on the annual race at 8:30 a.m.
All roads leading into the Southern Bypass will be closed including sections of Ngong' Road, Langata Road and Mombasa Road (at ICD).
Nairobi deputy Traffic Commandant Mary Kiarie said they have made appropriate adjustments to ensure road users are not inconvenienced by the closures.
"We have created traffic diversions and provided access to alternative routes during the designated marathon hours. We recommend that users of the Southern Bypass use these routes. To ensure a smooth flow of traffic, we ask for the public's cooperation with the traffic officers we have stationed around the routes. Additionally, we wish to reaffirm that strong security measures will be used to protect attendees," Kiarie said.
She added that normal traffic operations will resume at 1:30 pm after the conclusion of all races.
The main event venue will be at Uhuru Gardens.
