Mkungo all set for Morocco games in Kenya team debut
By Amos Abuga, August 8, 2019
Kenya Half Marathon team will be one of the disciplines the nation will be counting on for medals during the August 19-31 All Africa Games in four Moroccan cities among them Rabat and Casablanca.
Twenty-five-year-old Panuel Mkungo is among the runners in the half marathon team currently at the Kasarani Stadium for residential training ahead of the Games.
Former Philadelphia Half Marathon winner says he is pushed by his failure to represent the country at the 2019 World Cross Country Championships in Aarhus, Denmark.
“We have been training individually, but now it will be important to train as a team and get final tips from our coaches,” said the athlete who in January won his fifth consecutive Coast Region Cross Country Championships.
The runner who lives in the USA, will team up with Titus Ekuru and Morris Munene to hunt for medals while the women’s team is made up of Hellen Jepkurgat, Grace Kimanzi and Caroline Korir.
“I know a lot of countries have been training hard enough for the Games, so that it will not be a walk in the park for Kenya, but I think we have to go out stronger,” said the athlete who hails from Kilifi County.
That Athletics Kenya (AK) with the biggest representation of the contingent of 290 sportspersons across the 22 disciplines is statement enough a lot is expected from Riadha House.
“I hear a lot of talk that we shouldn’t over rely on athletics for medals and that other disciplines should be supported. While I agree that other disciplines need to up their game, support should not be at the expense of a performing federation,” he said.