World’s greatest rivals in long distance running Kenya and Ethiopia have signed a deal to nurture and promote young talents as part of climate action.

Since the two East African countries burst onto the athletic scene in 1968, they have dominated every race from 800 metres to marathon with occasional flicker of rivalry from European runners. Even European recent success in long distance running is a result of athletes who are induced to take up the nationalities of foreign countries like Britain, Norway, The Netherlands, France, German or Sweden.

There have also been occasional threats from the Middle East countries – Qatar, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia – from athletes with roots in Kenya or Ethiopia.

To maintain the long history of dominance, Eldoret City Marathon Management has entered a ground-breaking partnership agreement with the Great Ethiopian Run to support and nurture young talents running for climate action.

The memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed by Eldoret City Race Director Moses Tanui and Managing Director of Great Ethiopian Run Dagmawit Amare at an event witnessed by State Department for Sports Principal Secretary Elijah Mwangi, National Assembly Deputy Speaker Gladys Boss Shollei and a delegation of 30 staff members and athletes from Addis Ababa, who were in Eldoret as part of the partnership agreement and to participate in the Sixth Edition of the Eldoret City Marathon 2025.

The sports principal secretary lauded the partnership between the two races, noting that it will play a pivotal role in nurturing and supporting young athletes from poor and vulnerable backgrounds. Such athletes, he pointed out, lack the necessary support to unlock their immense potential to realise their dreams.

“Eldoret City Marathon will be able to learn how the great Ethiopia Run made successful steps for the past 25 years. This year Eldoret Marathon registered 1,500 runners while its Ethiopian counterpart has registered 50,000. So, what can we learn from that?” asked the sports principal secretary.

He assured the winners in the Sixth Edition of the Eldoret City Marathon held on Sunday April 27, 2025, that the government will offer them full sponsorship to take part in the Great Ethiopia Run slated for November this year, which will be part of exposure for the young athletes.

“As a ministry we identify and nurture talents, and this is one of the ways of doing that,” Mwangi promised.

He assured the winners their prize money is guaranteed and it will only take a few days for them to receive the payment after the anti-doping team gives clearance on their doping status.

He further reaffirmed the government’s commitment to support sports in the country by building stadiums in every ward across the 290 constituencies to provide a grassroots level sports infrastructure for all youth and promote sporting talents at a local level.

Tanui is one of celebrated Kenyan athletes of the 1990s. he was the first athlete to run under one hour in the half-marathon and a former world champion over 10,000 metres in the 1991 IAAF World Championships. Tanui said the MoU will facilitate exchange of athletes and event management expertise at both events.

“This is all about friendship between two great running nations. Our organisations share a mission to uplift athletics in the region,” said Tanui.

The Eldoret City Marathon, one of the highest paying races in Kenya’s annual race calendar, comprises a full marathon covering 42 kilometres and a 10 kilometre fun race for both men and women.

Great Ethiopian Run managing director Dagmawit Amare lauded the deal, which she said will boost sports tourism in the Eastern Africa region while at the same time promoting regional peace and unity.

“This is already a special year for us as we prepare to stage the 25th edition of our annual international 10 kilometre road race in November. This new partnership will strengthen the links we already share with Kenyan athletes and running events and help to raise the profile of our events in the region,” said Dagmawit.

• A Tell Media / KNA report / By Ekuwam Sylvester