Freshly-minted Kandie eyes success in UAE

Kibiwott Kandie wins the men's 10km race during the Lotto Athletics Kenya Cross Country Championships on February 15, 2020 at the Ngong Racecourse.

Photo credit: Chris Omollo | Nation Media Group

What you need to know:

  • The athlete will be using the race to set pace for the World Half Marathon Championships to be held in Gdynia, Poland in March where he is eyeing a slot in the Kenyan team.
  • He will be competing against his colleague at the KDF Alfred Barkach, who is also seeking a place in the podium, ahead of the task to represent the country in the Africa Cross Country Championships after being named in the team last week.

The newly crowned Athletics Kenya National Cross Country champion Kibiwott Kandie has shifted his focus to the 14th edition of Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon to be held on Friday in the United Arab Emirates.

The athlete, who has been training in Ngong, Kajiado County, will be looking forward to a good run as he expects a favourable weather during the race.

Kandie, a Kenya Defence Officer, said that his preparations were good and he is ready for the task ahead as he seeks to run a time of 58 minutes in the distance.

Well prepared

“I’m well prepared for the race and being a fast course, I will be looking forward to running my personal best. I am targeting 58:00. It will be competitive but I believe my training for the last three months will be productive,” said the athlete.

Last weekend, Kandie stormed to victory at the Athletics Kenya National Cross Country Championships where he beat the race favourite and two-time champion Geoffrey Kamworor to win the contested race in 29:57.7.

To him, the race was just part of his training as he seeks to outshine his compatriots. He has however said Ethiopians will present a tougher challenge.

“Ethiopian athletes are a big threat in this race but I don’t fear them because I trained well and we shall fight to the end. I can’t also ignore my compatriots who are good,” he added.

Kandie started the season with a win in Sao Silvestre 15km road race in Sao Paulo, Brazil when he outsprinted talented Uganda’s Jacob Kiplimo clocking 42:59 becoming the first man to run under 43 minutes in the distance.

The athlete will be using the race to set pace for the World Half Marathon Championships to be held in Gdynia, Poland in March where he is eyeing a slot in the Kenyan team.

He will be competing against his colleague at the KDF Alfred Barkach, who is also seeking a place in the podium, ahead of the task to represent the country in the Africa Cross Country Championships after being named in the team last week.