The third leg of Betika BingwaFest Season Two kicked off at Machakos County for the Eastern Region showdown at the Kenyatta Stadium, Machakos.
Teams and individuals battle for a share of the KES 17 million prize kitty up for grabs across football, rugby, basketball, and athletics.
16 men teams and 16 women teams are already contesting for the top prize in football, with preliminary matches having kicked off on Monday. The games are being played at the Kenyatta Stadium, Machakos Teachers Training College, Machakos ASK Showground, and Machakos University.
Asbel Kiprop and Amason Sampao will go head-to-head in the 5,000m and the 10,000m races. Last year, Kiprop and Sampao won the 10,000m and 5,000m races, respectively, during this leg, with Sampao going ahead to win the national title over the 5,000m in Siaya in April.
More than 400 athletes have registered so far as they aim for a share of more than KES 6M that will be up for grabs in the various track disciplines that will be on show, with both male and female athletes receiving equal prize money.
Rugby action will start on Friday, October 17 at the Machakos School, then move to Kenyatta Stadium on Sunday for the main cup finals while basketball action tips off the same day at the Kenyatta Stadium newly installed court.
Betika Head of Brand, Eric Mwiti, said: “Once again, Machakos will host the Eastern Region edition, and we are hoping to have an action-packed weekend on the track, on the court, and on the pitches. The first two legs of the second season have delivered spectacular versions, good attendance by the fans as well as super competition by the sportsmen and women. As usual, BingwaFest factors everyone within the community and thus we will have a free medical camp throughout the weekend.”
The second season of the multi-discipline sports extravaganza kicked off in August as Nakuru hosted the Rift Valley Region event at the Afraha Stadium before moving to Siaya County for the Nyanza Region leg.
Winners in football and rugby, both men and women, will pocket KES 1 million each, while the winning teams in the 3×3 basketball will go home KES 500,000 richer. The first runners-up for football and rugby will be awarded KES 500,000, while the second runners-up are set to receive KES 250,000. In basketball, the teams that finish second and third will take home KES 250,000 and KES 100,000, respectively.
Gold medalists in the lucrative 10,000m will take home KES 300,000 as the first and second runners-up will pocket KES 250,000 and KES 200,000 respectively. The athletes who finish fourth and fifth will round off the prize bracket and will receive KES 100,000 and KES 75,000 in that order.
In the 5,000m category, winners will be awarded KES 250,000, second place finishers KES 150,000, third place KES 100,000, fourth place KES 50,000, and fifth place KES 30,000.
Prizes for the top five in the 100m, 4000m, 800m, and 1,500m will be the same, with gold medalists receiving KES 150,000, silver medalists KES 100,000, and bronze medalists KES 60,000. The fourth and fifth place finishers will pocket KES 30,000 and KES 20,000.
Just like in all editions, there will be a free medical camp in Machakos that will run throughout the weekend and will offer general consultation services, specialist consultation services, laboratory and pharmacy services.