Chebures, Chelangat conquer Source of Nile Half-Marathon
Double joy. Chebures (left) and Chelangat cross the finish line with the tape after conquest of the Source of the Nile Half-Marathon in Jinja at the weekend. Photos/Ismail Kezaala
Two weeks ago, Ali Chebures surprised the athletics fraternity by emulating his mentor Moses Kipsiro to win the senior men’s 10km race at the National Cross-country Championships in Tororo.
Yesterday, Chebures repeated the trick. He conquered a three-in-one looped course to beat a strong field over 21km to take home the Source of the Nile National Half-Marathon title in Jinja.
It is best to say Chebures is enjoying the best moment of his career.
“I am happy to win this race, I thank for God this,” he said moments after winning in a time of one hour and two minutes.
Few could have seen this coming, not even Chebures or the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) club runner’s father figure Kipsiro, a three-time Commonwealth champion.
After Railway Bridge and Bridge Street, the 29-year-old peeled away from Abel Chebet and Geoffrey Kusuro in the closing stages of loop three.
Chebet posted 1:02:04 and Kusuro came third in a time of 1:02:06. Winning in Tororo played a big part in Chebures’ script. “It helped me in speed, I have improved,” he said.
And now, he planning on emulating Kipsiro further at the international stage.
Chebures has a place on the team that will compete at the Africa Cross-country Championships in Mozambique next month and the World Half-Marathon Championships due November 13 in Yangzhou, China.
“I have to see that I win a medal for Uganda,” he added. Like Chebures, Police’s Mercyline Chelangat beat the ladies’ field to add to her title from Jinja.
The 2018 Commonwealth 10000m bronze medalist posted a time of 1:11:52 ahead of Sarah Chelangat, as it were in Tororo.
The 5000m and 10000m national record holder Chelangat clocked 1:12:12.
Source of the Nile Marathon
HALF-MARATHON RESULTS
1.Ali Chebures UWA 1:02:00
2.Abel Chebet Police 1:02:04
3.Geoffrey Kusuro UWA 1:02:06
WOMEN’S 21KM
1.Mercyline Chelangat Police 1:11:52
2.Sarah Chelangat UWA 1:12:12
3.Doreen Chesang UWA 1:12:59
dkyeyune@ug. nationmedia.com
