Tegla Loroupe Peace Race
| Tegla Loroupe Peace Race | |
|---|---|
| Date | November |
| Location | Kapenguria, Kenya |
| Event type | Road |
| Distance | 10K |
| Established | 2003 |
| Official site | Tegla Loroupe Peace Race |
The Tegla Loroupe Peace Race is an annual 10-kilometre road running event which takes place in November in Kapenguria, West Pokot County, Kenya. First held in 2003, the race was created by Kenyan runner Tegla Loroupe to bring together warriors of rival tribes to reduce conflict in the region. The event features separate 10K races for elite long-distance runners and local warriors. There is also a race for children and a VIP race for politicians and dignitaries. The race raises funds for the Tegla Loroupe Peace Foundation, a charitable body focused education, sports and medical issues.
The event, created in 2003, was first held in conjunction with the launch of the Tegla Loroupe Peace Foundation. The Peace Race marked an effort by Tegla Loroupe, a prominent long-distance runner and world record holder, to use athletics as a way of promoting unity between rival tribes in the area. Severe droughts and high levels of poverty in the region brought with them increased conflict and cattle rustling, further compounding the population's problems.
Loroupe, whose home town of Kapenguria is the race venue, had personally experienced the problems of the region. "I grew up in a pastoral environment where life was really hard because of the local conflicts between the tribes and people stealing cattle. All of this on top of conditions that were hard to start with", she said, "I was lucky. I had talent and was able to make a success out of running and I felt that I wanted to give things back to the community I grew up in."
The first edition attracted thousands of people, mainly warriors from the Samburu, Marakwet and Pokot Districts of Kenya as well from the neighbouring areas of Karamoja in Uganda and Sudan. Kalie Kurwoi and Cheposera Merisia won the men's and women's 10K warrior races that year. Prizes were offered to the runners: winners earned 25,000 Kenyan shillings, runners-up received 15,000 Ksh, while third placers gained 10,000 Ksh. A shorter race was held for children under-12 and another for VIP attendees, which included the Swedish ambassador, the chairman of Athletics Kenya, and Ibrahim Hussein (the first African winner of the New York Marathon).
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