The 15th Tegla Loroupe Peace Race: November, 2018

2018/11/11

The 15th Edition of the Tegla Loroupe Peace Race was held on the 11th of November 2018 in Kapenguria.  

The race began at 8.00 am at the Makutano Catholic Church and ended at the Makutano Stadium in Kapenguria, West Pokot County. Residents showed up in large numbers to cheer and motivate their colleagues who were competing against each other. The Kitale-Lodwar Highway was filled with residents lining along both sides cheering and clapping as the athletes ran to complete the 10-kilometer race.  

The race was flagged off by Inspector General of Police Joseph Boinett , Peace Ambassador Tegla Loroupe and West Pokot Governor Prof John Lonyangapuo.

Winners

In the Elite Athletes category, Michael Kibet from West Pokot county and Nancy Jelagat from Elgeyo Marakwet county were the new winners of the fifteenth edition of Tegla Loroupe Peace Race. 

In the Reformed Warriors men’s category Luke Shatukei from West Pokot County took the first position followed by Lokai Momaimom from Amudat Uganda and the third position went to Simba Ekuum from West Pokot.

While in the Women ten kilometer reformed women’s race, Rosyline Lomuria from West Pokot county emerged victorious, followed by Nachap Sunti from Uganda and the third position was taken by Dorcas Cherop from Sebei in Uganda.

BOXING 

Boxing was also introduced in this year’s edition of the Tegla Loroupe Kapenguria Peace Race. It was seen as an effective form of supporting peace through sports since the sport has been used world wide as a way for supporting talent, as well as social and emotional development of the youth. 

“Over the last few years The Tegla Loroupe Boxing Club has put a lot of energy in developing this social project. It is indeed a great and historical day for the club ” Said Martin Maqio the Club’s Chairman

Theme of the Race

The theme of the race was Building Bridges and Inspiring Talents for Peace and Development

The peace race brought together various reformed warriors from different warring communities in North Rift and from the neighboring country Uganda.

The peace race saw over 200 reformed warriors from the warring communities from Karamojong and Sabei in Uganda as well as the Turkana, Pokot, Marakwet from Kenya. These tribes frequently conflict over issues of land and cattle rustling.

Inspector General Boinett called on the communities in the region to embrace peace, pointing out that there was need for neighboring communities in the region to do away with the outdated culture of cattle rustling and banditry activities. Boinnet said the government will use alternative ways of solving disputes in the region and asked the leaders from the region to support government efforts.

“We want warriors to change and engage in other meaningful activities. The government is ready to assist them,” he said.

Governor John Lonyagapuo also urged his constituents to live together in peace and harmony. He promised to support the reformed warriors by working closely with them so as find meaningful activities that they can engage in. 

The communities that attended the race included Karamojong and Sabei from Uganda as well as the Turkana, Pokot and Marakwet from Kenya who have in the past engaged in cattle rustling.