No Cross Country for athletes not registered with federation, AK warns ahead of Kapsokwony leg

No Cross Country for athletes not registered with federation, AK warns ahead of Kapsokwony leg

Evans Ousuru 18:21 - 25.10.2024

The first leg of the Cross Country series was held in Machakos last weekend and witnessed approximately 700 athletes compete

Athletics Kenya (AK) have said they will only allow runners who have registered on the federation’s database to compete in the ongoing AK Cross Country Series.

Event director Kennedy Tanui said competing in the series could be a challenge to some athletes whose details are not captured in its database, making it difficult to obtain the bib numbers.

“We are continuing with the process of registering athletes from across the country, for those who are yet to do so. You cannot get a bib number if you have not registered with the federation," he said.

The first leg of the Cross Country series was held in Machakos last weekend and witnessed approximately 700 athletes compete across the five categories of competition. The second leg is set for Kapsokwony Boys Secondary School, Mount Elgon on October 26. Registration has been ongoing for the past three months, with AK looking to capture the details of thousands of athletes in its database for seamless provision of services.

"We have our officials from Riadha House who will be registering athletes here (Kapsokwony). They will first register you on the database and then give you a running number,” Tanui said. More athletes are expected to line up in Kapsokwony with collection of bib numbers ongoing until Friday evening. Tanui warns that no one will be able to collect his or her bib number on the day of competition.

“It is not only in Kenya that it is done this way but also worldwide, in most competitions. Regulations stipulate that bib numbers must be collected a day before the championships and not on the material day. So, today (Friday) is the deadline and anyone who fails to collect his or hers will not be able to compete tomorrow,” he explained.

Olympic 800m champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi headlines the Kapsokwony leg. Africa Cross Country silver medalist Naibei Kiplimo and Asbel Kiprono – winner of the senior men’s race in Machakos last weekend will also be incontention.

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