This archive report was first published on 5 October 2019.
On October 5, 2019, the 14th edition of the Madoka Half Marathon took place in Ngerenyi, Taita Taveta County, with Peter Mutitu emerging as the winner in the men's 21km race, clocking 1:17:42.
He beat close rival Kahora Joseph, who came second with a time of 1:18:50.
Debutant Cynthia Jerop won the women's category in 1:18:55, with Delvine Maringor coming second just a few seconds behind, at 1:19:20.
The race, however, faced challenges due to adverse weather conditions, including heavy rains and poor roads, which made it difficult for the race directors to provide the right direction to some of the athletes.
Despite the challenges, race patron Marsden Madoka noted that despite the bad weather conditions, all went well.
However, the athletes, some of whom had travelled from Eldoret, disagreed, citing poor organisation and misleading directions.
"This is not fair. It's really sad that this year the marathon was not well organised. We have been misled on our way and because we don't know the routes, we had to face it the hard way," said an angry athlete.
Women's winner Cynthia Jerop admitted that the race was difficult, citing tough competition and bad weather.
"It was not easy but I thank God I have won despite being my first time. The weather was really bad and I could have done better than this," she said.
Winners in different categories walked away with prizes, including new motorbikes worth Sh100,000.
