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Top athletes Reynold Cheruiyot, Lilian Odira, and Sandrafelis Chebet will headline the Athletics Kenya Cross Country Series opener in Machakos, aiming to build momentum for the 2025 World Championships after challenging Olympic seasons., aiming to build momentum for the 2025 World Championships after challenging Olympic seasons.
Former world under-20 1500m champion Reynold Cheruiyot, Africa 800m silver medallist Lilian Odira and 2015 World Youth Championships silver medalist Sandrafelis Chebet headline the top athletes for this year’s Athletics Kenya Cross Country Series opener at the Machakos Teachers’ Training College in Machakos.
Reynold Cheruiyot and Lilian Odira made their Olympic debuts but did not have great runs and as they gear up for next season, all eyes will be on making an impression with the main event being the 2025 World Championships in Tokyo, Japan.
At the Olympics, Cheruiyot finished 10th in the men’s 1500m semifinal, clocking 3:35.32 to cross the finish line and failing to proceed to the final. On her part, Lilian Odira finished fourth in the women’s 800m semifinal and missed out on a slot in the final.
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She heads to the cross country with the main focus to build up on the new season, looking to make a statement in all of her races. After the Olympics, Lilian Odira competed at the Boris Hanžeković Memorial where she finished sixth.
On his part, Reynold Cheruiyot proceeded to finish fourth at the Diamond League Meeting in Lausanne before settling for sixth place in Zurich. He then capped his track season off with a seventh-place finish at the Diamond League Meeting final in Brussels.
Others expected to line up at the event include the 2022 World Indoor 1500m bronze medalist Abel Kipsang, Winfred Mbithe, the 2021 World Relays silver medalist Naomi Korir, South Rift’s Bethwell Kibiwot, Machakos-based Athanas Kioko and Kenya Prisons’ Kipngetich Ng’eno.
Ahead of Saturday’s event, AK’s director of competition Paul Mutwii has requested more athletes to sign up for the races and kickstart their 2025 seasons in Machakos.
“It is important that athletes compete in this event if at all they want to have a strong season. We have also introduced some changes like a collection of bib numbers that must be collected in person at Machakos Teachers College on Friday. All athletes must register via a link provided by the AK,” Mutwii said as per Athletics Kenya.
The event in Machakos will include the Machakos Teachers College Fun Run (Men and Women), Under-20 (Men 8km and Women 6km), 10km Senior (Men and Women) and Mixed Relays. Other legs of the annual series include Kapsokwony (October 26), Bomet (November 2), Olkalau (November 30), Kisii (December 14) and Iten (January 4).
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