World Mountain and Trail Running Championships Trials earlier scheduled for this Sunday, October 2 have been postponed indefinitely.
Athletics Kenya mountain running coordinator, Peter Angwenyi, said the trials that were to take place in Longonot, Nakuru County were postponed to allow athletes who are just returning from European races to regain shape.
Angwenyi said a new date will be announced after further consultations with AK’s national office.
“The venue remains Longonot,” Angwenyi said in an interview. The trials will be used to select a team of at least 40 athletes who will represent Kenya at the World Mountain and Trail Running Championships to be held in Chiang Mai, Thailand in November.
The event was to be held last year but was postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. More than 900 athletes from 46 member federations are expected to take part in the four-day festival. It will be the first-ever joint World Mountain and Trail Running Championships.
The biennial action-packed event will feature six categories including vertical uphill race, classic up and down for seniors, classic up and down for juniors, short trail for seniors, and long trail race (75-80kms) for seniors.
The event is organised by the World Mountain Running Association (WMRA), the International Association of Ultrarunners (IAU), and the International Trail Running Association (ITRA), supported by World Athletics.
Angwenyi expressed his optimism that they will select a strong team to represent the country.
“Kenyans performed very well in the just concluded World Cup season with Joyce Njeru and Patrick Kipng’eno winning the uphill senior women and men races respectively. These are the athletes we expect to be in Team Kenya,” said Angwenyi.
They won six out of six races with the upcoming Philemon Kiriango finishing second.
Others who impressed during the World Cup season were former champion Lucy Murigi in the uphill senior women’s race, Robert Pkemoi, Mark Kangogo and Esther Chesang in the 40kms trail.