Kipsongok wins Brunei Marathon
By Jason Thomas

Bandar Seri Begawan - As the sun rose over the nation's capital yesterday morning, thousands of runners from all over the globe gathered at the Taman Haji Sir Muda Omar Ali Saiffudien to compete in the Brunei Marathon 2006.

Training for more than two months for yesterdays' race, Kenyan runner Wilson Kipsongok, who placed third last year, won the Men's Open Marathon with a time of 2:30:44.

"I was determined to win even before I came here, and the good weather helped," said Kipsongok, who runs an average of 140 km a week.

The winner said that Since all the runners scouted the course on Saturday, Kipsongok said that helped him when he ran.

"When .1 was running I was - just thinking about the course ahead. I was so happy when I reached the finish line that I was already planning my Christmas budget,'-" said the smiling Kipsongok.

However, not all went according to plan, as many runners complained that there weren't enough race officials or signs throughout the course to help guide them. As a result, there were some runners who made wrong turns, or didn't turn at all, and ran a few extra kilometres.

The winner in the Women's Open Marathon, Marry Akor who clocked 2:45:21, said she ran an extra three or four kilometres by her estimate.

"There were no directions on the course, and since there were no motorcycle escorts for the women, many didn't know where to run," she complained. "It was just horrible," she said, clearly dissatisfied with the races' organisers. Samwel Nganga, who won the Men's Half-Marathon with a time of 1:20:42, said his time was a lot slower than his average of one hour and five minutes.

"I ran an extra six kilometres in fact, because when I reached the 15 km mark where I was supposed to turn right, I was told to keep going straight," said Nganga. Even when he told the policeman in charge - and not race official - that he was competing in the Half-Marathon, he was told to keep going.

Having continued for three kilometres, Nganga's protests to the police motorcycle escort in front paid off.

After he turned around to consult with his colleague at the 15 km mark, he came back and told Nganga he had to turn back. Apart from Akor and Nganga, several other elite runners clocked slower than their normal times.

Pg. Sharifuddin bin Pg. Haji Bakar, manager of Excellence Event Management - the race's organisers - denied the runners' claims. "There were motorcycle escorts leading the pack of runners," refuted Pg. Sharifuddin. "Visible markers were placed at strategic points over the route, and we had race officials posted at critical points throughout the route."

These officials were supposed to ensure the runners in the different categories - Marathon (42 km), Half-Marathon (21 km), 10 km, and Fun Run (six km) - followed their respective routes.

"These complaints are something we have to look in to seriously. "However, we hope this race will still be considered a success," Pg. Sharifuddin said.-- Courtesy of The Brunei Times

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