Reigning BingwaFest National Champion over 1500m Purity Chepkirui is set to start her title defense this season when she takes to the track for the Nyanza Region leg at the Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Stadium in Siaya on Thursday, September 25.
The second season of the multi-discipline sports extravaganza kicked off last month as Nakuru hosted the Rift Valley Region event at the Afraha Stadium and will see teams and individuals battle for a share of the KES 17 million prize kitty per region.
Chepkirui is among more than 500 athletes who have registered so far, aiming to share a prize pool of over KES 6M across various track disciplines on display. Both male and female athletes will receive equal prize money. Bib collection will be done at the Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Stadium on Wednesday.
Football action kicked off on Monday, September 22, with preliminary matches, and will be played at The Siaya Polytechnic Grounds, Bondo Complex Academy, and the Siaya Prison Grounds, culminating on Sunday at the Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Stadium.
Betika Head of Brand Eric Mwiti said: “It is a pleasure going back to Siaya this week as we host the Nyanza Region leg. We hosted the athletics national finals there, and they gave us a reason to go back, and now we will be having all the sports disciplines within BingwaFest played there. This season, our focus is to build on the inaugural edition, which brought out the power that sports has to bring together and transform communities. We can’t wait to see teams from across various sports disciplines bring their very best to the field, the track, and the court.”
Rugby 10s and 3×3 basketball showdown will tip off starting on Friday, September 26, at the Siaya KMTC Grounds and the Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Stadium, respectively and will run through to Sunday.
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 the first season, there will be a free medical camp in Siaya that will run throughout the weekend and will offer general consultation services, specialist consultation services, laboratory and pharmacy services.
Plantech FC and Shabbab Ladies won the football titles in Nakuru last month, while Menengai Oilers Academy Nakuru Rugby Women triumphed in rugby, with Pirates Chapter and Hookies emerging basketball champions.