Korir hails children’s turn out in Chepsaita Cross Country, optimistic of a bright future

Athletics Kenya’s Youth Development chair Barnaba Korir has hailed the record-breaking turnout of youngsters in the third edition of the Great Chepsaita Cross Country on Saturday, noting that Kenya’s athletics future looked more promising.

Korir, who is also National Olympic Committee of Kenya's first vice president, said that children dominating the run proved Athletics Kenya’s progress in nurturing talent and the need to nurture them from a young age.

“This was the largest number of kids we have ever had in this meet, and this shows what we are trying to achieve as Athletics Kenya. If you want these children to be shaped well and realize what they want to do, you have to start from a young age, and that’s what we are doing.”

The Great Chepsaita Cross Country featured four kids’ categories which included: 500 m races for boys and girls aged 5-7, 1 km races for 8–10-year-olds, 2 km races for ages 11–13 and a competitive teen race featuring 14-15-year-olds.

The meet, which has quickly established itself as a new hub of talent identification, attracted more than 8,500 participants with Korir hailing its growth.

 “We are really excited about what is happening. Chepsaita has grown massively since we started three years ago and now it’s recognized internationally and that shows you how big it is,” Korir said.

However, he was awed by the turnout of children, which to him was the highlight of the meet.

“I’m delighted to see many kids participating and parents embracing such programmes. This is the right direction to go and we are passionate in making sure we nurture their talents.”

Korir attributed the growth to AK’s structured development programmes, which includes school partnerships and setting up of camps to nurture their talents and providing a blueprint in their career path, drawing inspiration from the World Athletics’ Kids’ Athletics initiative.

“The sport has grown through the programmes we have put in place over the last few years. We have been working with primary and secondary schools to build more interest in athletics and we are glad people are now embracing it.”

“We have built athletics camps in different parts of the country to help them grow their talent and we’ve been having the support of the government,” Korir added.

Kenya’s zeal in kid’s programmes reflected in their triumph in the World Athletics Relays competition in May, where they pocketed 10,000 dollars.

According to Korir, such programmes propelled them to triumph.

“We had a World Athletics Kids’ Relays competition and we won because of the programmes we have. That is why we are proud because what we have put in place is bearing fruits.”

Kenya also emerged as the top Member Federation in World Athletics’ Kids’ Athletics Day challenge, mobilizing over 140,000 children nationwide, a number equivalent to almost three quarters of the total participants.

The initiative promoted health, environmental action through tree planting and creativity in making sustainable items such as cardboard batons.

The Great Chepsaita Cross Country, through patron Farouk Kibet, has played a key role transforming young lives through education, with scholarships worth 20 million shillings given to needy children within the Chepsaita community.