National 400m Champ Moraa Wants To Honour Late Mother With Gold From Doha

14th September 2019 - by Erick Ochieng

The budding sprint hopeful who was raised by her grandparents until Standard Six has set a tight programme at the Kenya Police training camp in Ngong Hills where she is based

National 400m champion Mary Moraa cruises to victory during Athletics Kenya national trials at Nyayo National Stadium in Nairobi on September 13, 2019. PHOTO/ Dancun Sirma

SUMMARY

The event can be great if ones parents are still alive and could be sad for someone like the national 400m champion Mary Moraa
The former Mogonga Secondary School student is also planning to dominate the seniors after changing ranks last year
Moraa is optimistic she would soon land a job with Kenya Police who have offered her state of the art training facility in Ngong under head coach Alex Sang

NAIROBI, Kenya- Mothers Day is an important occasion that many across the world celebrate in the best possible way they know.

People rejoice to honour the influence of their mothers in their lives as well as the society at large.

The event can be great if ones parents are still alive and could be sad for someone like the national 400m champion Mary Moraa.

Moraa, 20, says she only has scanty details of her mother who people back in the village in Kisii County say was a great sprinter.

“I can hardly recall how my mother looked like, all the images in my head are from the stories that I’m told by relatives and friends.

“They say she was an athlete nobody could beat in 400m. She also did well in 800m and 1500m. Sadly, she died when I was only two-years-old. My father passed on a week later,” Moraa told SportPesa News.

The pain of losing both parents as a child may have diminished over the years, but Moraa has resolved to celebrate her mother's sprinting prowess with a target.

“I have set my sights on gold at the forthcoming Doha World Championship.

“ I want to win the medal to honour my late mother who was a force to reckoned in the lap-race,” Moraa underlined.

The budding sprint hopeful who was raised by her grandparents until Standard Six has set a tight programme at the Kenya Police training camp in Ngong Hills where she is based.

She goes for a 30 to 40 minutes long run on Mondays, then speed work on Tuesdays. Wednesdays are for stretches while slopes and hard runs are for Thursdays and Fridays.

The former East Africa Schools champion believes the schedule, plus a strategy with her training partner and national record-holder Hellen Syombua, will be able to give her a podium finish in Qatar.

The former Mogonga Secondary School student is also planning to dominate the seniors after changing ranks last year.

“At first I feared competing against older athletes but gained confidence gradually after I won two races. So far my morale is boosted with the wins and you could see this by the way I strolled to the finish line at the national trials. I have also managed to lower my personal best to 51.75,” she underscored.

After the Doha championship slated for September 27 to October 6 in Qatar, Moraa’s other target will be to qualify for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

Her greatest challenge in the race are injuries and this is the reason she will be opting for 800m in the future as she follows in the footsteps of her village-mate, mentor and role model Hellen Obiri who will be defending her 5000m title in Doha.

“In the next five years, I want to conquer the world like Obiri who was a good sprinter like me before she scaled to 5000m category. I love her style of running, she never gives up.

“I want to follow her by switching to 800m because I feel I can conquer this category like former Olympics champion, Pamela Jelimo,” she said.

Moraa is optimistic she would soon land a job with Kenya Police who have offered her state of the art training facility in Ngong under head coach Alex Sang.

Her advice to those intending to join athletics: “Please cultivate hard work, train constantly,follow your coaches instructions and you will make it.”