NAIROBI, October 22 – Philemon Lisoreng will be hoping it will be third time lucky when he competes in this year’s Standard Chartered Nairobi marathon.
The 29 year old who will be representing the country in the Greatest Run on Earth series (GROE) finished fourth and tenth in previous attempts and will be looking to go the full distance.
“I tried to win the last two titles and I am hoping to finally win. I am prepared and I am sure I will win it this year,” he said on Wednesday.
Lisoreng will also be looking to make up after failing to win any cash prize in 2005 when he first competed in the GROE series.
“I ran in a relay team in the 2005 GROE but I did not win any money so I want to see if I can make up for that this year by helping my country win something good reward,” he observed.
The father of four added that he was thrilled to get the call to don the country’s colours.
“When Peter Angwenyi called me this year and asked me whether I would be ready to compete in the GROE series, I told him yes and he urged me to prepare myself in the bets way possible.”
The last born in a family of seven, Lisoreng made his marathon debut at the Kisumu marathon in 2004 where he finished 11th. The following year he was fourth on his Nairobi marathon debut in 2005 and the following year he finished tenth.
He made his international marathon debut in Xiamen International marathon in China finishing 8th, “I had muscle pull during the race which slowed me down considerably in the latter stages and cost me victory.”
Lisoreng then suffered a serious knee injury that slowed him down earlier this year but he says he has made a complete recovery.
“I am fully healed and ready as I have been training hard. I am ready to run in Nairobi and get the best result.”
This year’s Standard Chartered Nairobi marathon will be held on October 26 in Nairobi. Over 10,000 participants are expected to compete in the annual race whose proceeds go towards helping treat preventable eye blindness.
The winner of the full marathon will pocket Sh1.5 million.
The race is also the opening round of the four race Greatest Run on Earth Series. Other races include Mumbai, Hong Kong and Singapore with almost One million dollars cash prize to be won in the nations challenge.
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