The Kenyan Cross Country Championships is an annual cross country running competition that serves as the national championship for Kenya. It is organised by Athletics Kenya and has permit race status from the International Association of Athletics Federations. It is typically held in February in Nairobi, the country's capital, and entrants are almost exclusively from Kenya. Entrants represent their home region or one of the high level national works teams, such as Kenya Defence Forces, Kenya Police, Prisons or Universities. These teams host their own annual team championships in order to decide their selections for the national event. Also known as the KCB Nairobi Cross, the event doubles as the national trials for international competitions, such as the IAAF World Cross Country Championships and African Cross Country Championships. Matching international programmes, four races feature at the championships: senior men's and women's races (10 km), a junior men's race (8 km) and a junior women's race (6 km). Senior men's and women's races distances had been 12 km and 8 km respectively until 2015. Athletes most often receive selection for their performances in these races, although the national governing body may opt to send athletes on their form outside of this race. A short race for senior men and women was also present on the championships' one-day programme between 1998 and 2006, as short races were contested at the annual world championships during this period.Kenyan Championships
GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2016-04-06. The event attracts a very high standard of athletes, reflecting Kenya's strength

long-distance running Long-distance running, or endurance running, is a form of continuous running over distances of at least . Physiologically, it is largely aerobic in nature and requires stamina as well as mental strength. Within endurance running comes two d ...

. The growth of the championships in the 1980s coincided with the country's increasing prowess in the cross country discipline, which has seen it win all but four of the men's team world titles since 1986 and numerous women's team titles since 1990.IAAF World Cross Country Championships 2015 Guiyang Facts & Figures

IAAF World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body for ...

. Retrieved on 2016-04-07. Paul Tergat is the most successful athlete of the championships, having won the men's race on four occasions.

Jane Ngotho Jane Ngotho Wanjiku (born 29 November 1969) is a former Kenyan long-distance runner who specialised in 3000 metres, and 10,000 metres events. She won three medals in two different editions of the African Championships in 1989 and 1990, including ...

is the most successful woman, courtesy of her three straight victories from 1988 to 1990.

Rose Cheruiyot Rose Jelagat Cheruiyot (born 21 July 1976) is a runner from Kenya. She competed in the 5000 metres at the 1996 Summer Olympics and the 2000 Summer Olympics. She is married to Ismael Kirui. The couple completed an unusual double, when they both wo ...

was the only athlete to win both long and short national titles in her career, taking the long race in 1995 before become short course champion in 2001.

Past winners

Senior race

*The fastest Kenyan in 2007 was

Hellen Musyoka In Greek mythology, Hellen (; grc, Ἕλλην) is the eponymous progenitor of the Hellenes. He is the child of Deucalion (or Zeus) and Pyrrha, and the father of three sons, Dorus, Xuthus, and Aeolus, by whom he is the ancestor of the Gr ...

who was runner-up in 27:07.0 minutes.

Short race

Statistics

;Most successful athletes * Paul Tergat: 1992, 1995, 1996, 2000 * Paul Kipkoech: 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988 *

: 1988, 1989, 1990 * Paul Koech: 1997, 1998, 1999 *

Bedan Karoki Muchiri Bedan Karoki Muchiri (born 21 August 1990) is a Kenyan professional long distance runner who competes in track, cross country and road running disciplines. He represented Kenya at the 2012 and 2016 Summer Olympics. He was a silver medallist a ...

: 2012, 2014, 2015

References

;List of winners
Kenyan Championships
GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2016-04-06. *Civai, Franco & Evans, Kip Evans (2017-02-26)

Association of Road Racing Statisticians The Association of Road Racing Statisticians is an independent, non-profit organization that collects, analyzes, and publishes statistics regarding road running races. The primary purpose of the ARRS is to maintain a valid list of world road record ...

. Retrieved 2019-07-18.

External links

Athletics Kenya official website
{{National championships in athletics Athletics competitions in Kenya National cross country running competitions Sport in Nairobi February sporting events Cross country running in Kenya Annual sporting events in Kenya