All roads lead to China for Africa's runners

Africa has long been the main force in distance running, with Western races traditionally the preferred hunting ground for the continent's elite racers. That, however, is changing as China's running boom presents a new and lucrative route to glory for Africa's athletes, particularly those from marathon powerhouses Kenya and Ethiopia.

Increasingly, Africans are signing up with Chinese agencies to secure places in Chinese races keen to boost their global profiles by attracting the sport's biggest names.

Tao Camp, one of China's leading athlete management companies, now has over 140 elite runners from Kenya and Ethiopia on its books.

"China is in Kenya for business. It is a mutual agreement where athletes enter races in China, and their tickets, accommodation and food are paid by their agents, and all they need to do is to run and win," said Athletics Kenya vice-president Paul Mutwii.

"Then they share the prize money, which sometimes is around 40,000 US dollars."

In 2015, 134 marathons were staged in China, according to official records. In 2016 that figure stood at 328 and has been increasing at a rapid rate since. Now the race is on for a Chinese marathon to be added to the Abbot World Marathon Majors list, with the Chengdu Marathon currently under consideration to join Tokyo, Boston, London, Berlin, Chicago and New York City on the elite global series.

Reigning New York City champion Geoffrey Kamworor believes top Chinese races are earning the right to be mentioned in the same breath as the majors. "Kenya has so much talent. Up-and-coming athletes who have not made a name for themselves in Europe find China as an alternative and this is boosting the level of competition in China," said Kamworor, who won gold for Kenya at the 2015 World C ross -Coun t ry Championships in Guiyang, Guizhou province.