Chelangat, Mande strike gold in Jinja

It was a day of firsts at the Source of the Nile Half Marathon held in Jinja City on Sunday as both winners from the men and women category were picking their first gold medals in the 21.09km race.

Isaac Mande Kibet from Arua had a strong finish to starve off competition from Jonathan Akankwasa, who led for most of the distance after six men broke off to form the highly-competitive leading pack to finish the race in 1:04.43. In the women's category, Annet Chelangat Chemengich was the winner in one hour and 13 minutes to upgrade from the silver she took last year.

The men’s field was comparatively slower as some senior athletes were due to take part in the sixth edition of the African Cross Country Championships in Tunisia but the race was never short of competition and excitement.

Slightly over 100 athletes entered the race but 45 out of 88 men started the race.

Mande, who has been running the 10km race said he had started his preparations for the 2028 Olympics.

“I am very happy with my time. I am training for the Olympics 2028 to run the full marathon,” he said.

Dominic Otucet, the president of the Uganda Athletics Federation (UAF) branded the event a success because of some top athletes who took part such as Rebecca Cherop, who already booked her ticket to the Olympics and Abraham Kiplimo a bronze medallist in Glasgow.

Partly, the event attendance was affected by a parallel marathon organised by the Uganda Wildlife Authority, a member club. Otucet reiterated that under the new sports law, such events will be null and void.

“I am happy that the athletes who know that they’re national athletes came here. Chemengich, for instance, is actually from UWA. They should not fault her because this is a national event. Now we have been empowered by the news sports act, we’re going to take action on events that are organised without our permission. All races in Uganda must be cleared by us and all the technical input must be from us,” Otucet said.

Thankful

Bukwo-raised athlete Chelangat was also excited with her performance.

“My teammates pushed me so well. This place is very hot but I knew I could manage it. This marathon was easy because of the conditions we train in at Bukwo,” she said.

Chelangat was using the race to gauge herself ahead of the World Cross Country next month in Belgrade, Serbia.

Although she has been running the MTN Marathon and was a silver medallist in the Source of the Nile Marathon last year, she is eager to keep on improving.

“I want to run better times in different conditions,” she said.

 The half marathon initially sponsored by Hared Petroleum is managed by funds from the government to prepare athletes for global and continental events. Hared still offer their grounds for the awards ceremony and the finish point.

Source of the Nile Half Marathon

Results - women

Annet Chelangat (UWA) – 1:13.50

Karen Chemusto (UPDF) – 1:14.06

Ruth Cheptoek (UPDF) – 1:16.12

Rebecca Chelangat (Prisons) – 1:17.37

Nancy Cheptegei (Arua) - 1:17.41

Results – men

Isaac Mande Kibet (Arua) – 1:04.43

Jonathan Akankwasa (Evzin) – 1:04.55

Ben Somikwo Chelimo (Prisons) – 1:05.22

Philip Kiptoo (Arua) – 1:05.42

David Kipsang (Prisons) – 1:06.26