Eldoret City marathon, regarded as the Kingdom of All runners in the country was officially launched today in Eldoret.
The race set to be held on 19th April will see top runners by-pass Eldoret town as it enters its 3rd year in a row.
Regarded as one of the highest paying race on the continent, winners will be pocketing kshs 3.5 million trickling down to 20th finisher who will earn kshs 10,000.
Race director Moses Tanui, the two time Boston Marathon winner said that the kingdom has opened doors for international athletes due to the prize money offered to the runners.
“This prize money is good for any international runner, willing to take part. Translating to $35,000 it is worthy to compete,” said the former Olympic Games 10,000m silver medalist.
However, Tanui said that there will be no prize increase this year but come next edition, money may increase depending on the sponsors who will come on board.
“We are urging sponsors to come on board to support this noble course. If we get many sponsors, we have no option but to increase the prize money. We are for athletes. They come first before anything else,” added the former Vienna City marathon champion.
At the same time, he urged athletes to remain clean, free from doping.
“Last year, we had one athlete who tested positive. It was bad news for us as race organizers. We will test all athletes on the prize list. That means all top 20 finishers will have to undergo doping test,” added Tanui, the former Eldoret Club golf captain.