Games and Sports
Bushendich Vows to Defend Crown
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- Published on Friday, 20 July 2007 17:25
Bushendich won last year's race on his debut and a week later clinched the Amsterdam Marathon title, also making his debut in the 42-kilometre distance, with an impressive sub-2:10 performance.
He cleared the flat and fast course in the Netherlands in two hours, eight minutes and 52 seconds with fellow Kenyan Rose Cheruiyot (2.28.26) winning the women's race.
Will defend title
Bushendich will also defend his Amsterdam title on October 21. Bushendich announced his race plan yesterday in Nairobi when Safaricom's chief executive Michael Joseph presented the company's Sh2 million sponsorship for the 2007 Safaricom Gusii 10km Golden Series which start with the Super Tarrific Kisii 10km race on August 5 in Kisii town.
The Kisii race will be followed by the Saasa Gucha 10km in Ogembo on September 14 with the Safaricom Kebirigo 10km race closing the series on October 5.
"Last year I used the Kebirigo race as a great opportunity for speed work ahead of the Amsterdam Marathon and this helped me a great deal," Bushendich, who leaves tonight for a series of races in Europe, said yesterday.
Will compete in all races
"I will definitely compete in all the three races this year and will especially be out to defend my title in Kebirigo," he added.
Bushendich fought off a strong challenge from national 5,000m champion Thomas Longosiwa to clinch the Kebirigo title last year.
Longosiwa is in Kenya's 10,000m team at the All Africa Games in Algiers and will be in action this week.
Yesterday's presentation was also attended by members of Kenya's gold medal winning 4x400m relay team at the 1972 Munich Olympics - Charles Asati, Hezekiah Nyamao and Robert Ouko - and Athletics Kenya's Nyanza South officials led by chairman Peter Angwenyi.
Joseph said the increased sponsorship for this year's race series will translate to increased prize money and said his company will continue supporting the development of athletics in the country. The organisers announced that the top prize in the men's and women's races at the Kisii and Gucha races will be Sh15,000 for the winners, Sh7,500 for the runners' up and Sh3,500 for the third placed finishers while athletes in the fourth to 10th places will each earn Sh1,000.
There will also be a cow each for the men's and women's winners, goats for the runners up and sacks of maize for the third placed finishers.
At the main Kebirigo race, winners in the men's and women's races will each earn Sh50,000 - up from last year's Sh30,000 - with the runners up getting Sh25,000 and third place finishers getting Sh12,500 besides the cow, goat and sack of maize respectively.
"Athletes with the best cumulative time in the three races stand to win a Sh50,000 jackpot this year," Angwenyi, also Athletics Kenya's national public relations officer, said.
Besides the prizes, the organisers have also announced community development projects that start with the donation of a water tank to Tendere Secondary School in Ogembo, hosts of the Gucha 10km race.
