World of O News
The grounds of the Kenyan Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) and a small area of forest belonging to the Kenyan Forestry Research Institute (KEFRI) was the venue for the 2008 Kenyan Sprint Orienteering Championships (see map).
This terrain, roughly 20km west of the capital Nairobi, was chosen for the race at short notice when the original terrain, Uhuru Park in central Nairobi, was closed due to the political unrest in Kenya. A trouble-free event was ensured though thanks to the support of the authorities at KARI and KEFRI who gave permission to use the area and provided other infrastructure, security etc.
… it was especially pleasing to see the great interest for the children’s race where competitors came from both the Bushtrekkers o-club and from schools nearby
The new map (IOF Sprint standard) at a scale of 1:5000 provided an ideal sprint area with both forest and built-up areas. The terrain was mapped in less than a week by Samwel Ndegwa Wanyeki and Esther Wangui Mwihia (Bushtrekkers Kenya) and Ursula Kadan and Thomas Krejci (TV Fürstenfeld Austria). Thomas Krejci also planned the courses. The weather on the day was perfect (lightly overcast and windy with a temperature of 25°C) for the 62 competitors, including guests from Sweden. After brief instructions, the race began at 10.15 when the first runner Micah Samoei (Bushtrekkers Kenya) started off. – Besides the highly concentrated and motivated runners in the main categories, it was especially pleasing to see the great interest for the children’s race where competitors came from both the Bushtrekkers o-club and from schools nearby, according to organizer Thomas Krejci.
While as expected the winner of the women’s elite class was Isabel Moraa, a Kenyan who lives in Sweden, the surprising winner of the men’s elite class was Stephen Kiarie (Bushtrekkers). In spite of difficult training conditions due the lack of maps of forested terrain, Stephen won in the excellent time of 18:01 min on the 2.5km sprint distance. Particularly surprising and pleasing was his clear lead of around 1:30 min to the experienced Swede, Lars Anderson, in second place. The basis for the good performances here and in the future for Bushtrekkers’ runners has been the weekly club training organised since September by Ursula Kadan. The new “KEFRI / KARI” map (800 kB) though means that a significant improvement in the training opportunities is guaranteed. With the well-known athletic capacity of the Kenyan runners (the majority can run 10km under 30 minutes; Bushtrekkers’ club record times are under 28 minutes for 10km and under 65 minutes for the half-marathon), a future breakthrough for runners from Kenya in the international orienteering world is perhaps not so far away.
Source: Press release, Thomas Krejci, Kikuyu-Nairobi-Kenya
