A member of the national women’s half marathon team Monica Ngige says she has intensified training in preparations for the World Championships set for October 17 in Gdynia, Poland.

  The event had initially been slated for March 29 but was pushed to October due to the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic.

  Ngige who is training in Nyahururu remains optimistic that the championship will be held even though the pandemic is far from over.

  She said she has already loaded endurance mileage and is now working on her speed.

 “I hope the competition will take place so that this training does not go to waste,” she said.

  Ngige might not get enough time to hone her skills on the track as is the case with many of world beaters but she is still a force to reckon with on road races.

  She admits that she took to road running too early in life but she is happy with her results in the many races she has participated in.

“I have finished in the top three in most road races I have participated in, mostly in America,” she said.

Ngige, who hails from Kabete in Kiambu County, is the only one who took up athletics among the seven children in the family. 

 In April also last year, she was among more than 8,000 runners who took part in the 11th edition of BAA 5K which is a curtain raiser event for the Boston Marathon.

She triumphed in 15 minutes and 16 seconds which is a personal best time. 

 Ngige beat such favourites like Kenya’s Violah Lagat (15:29) and Ethiopia’s Gotytom Gebreslase (15:35).

 Ngige was born on June 7, 1993. She has won prestigious races like Crescent Classic City 10km in New Orleans, America, in 2018 and Subaru Buffalo 4-Mile Chase.

 She will be wearing national colours for the first time and, by participating in the World Half Marathon, she joins Pauline Wangui and Mary Wacera who are other women runners from the Central region to represent the country in the championships.