Preparations for the Great Chepsaita Cross Country run are now in top gear as school heads from 21 schools met at the venue in Turbo Constituency to plan for the scholarship programme sponsored by the race.

The third edition of the race will be held on December 6th, 2025, and the headteachers said its theme — Running for Education — was greatly transforming education and other community initiatives in the region.

President Ruto’s aide, Farouk Kibet, is the founder and Patron of the race, which has grown to international standards and is rated at Gold Level by the IAAF.

Stephen Kimaiyo, who is the chairman of the Local Organising Committee (LOC), hosted 22 headteachers at Chepsaita to brief them on the race and the education scholarship programme.

Farouk has been passionate about supporting education for the less privileged in the community, and last year, 16 schools and 1,600 students benefited from the scholarships.

“This year, we have increased the schools to 21, and each of them will receive 1 million. Additionally, each of the schools will have 100 students benefiting from the scholarships,” said Kimaiyo.

The school heads present were drawn from Uasin Gishu, Nandi, and Kakamega Counties, among others.

“We have briefed them on the purpose of the Run for Education theme, which is a great idea and vision by our patron who values education in our society,” said Kimaiyo.

He said they had discussed with the headteachers how to identify needy children who would benefit from the support.

The school principals praised Farouk for the race, which they said was transforming the community through education scholarships, talent development, and other community projects like roads and electricity.

Silvya Koech, who is the Principal at Chepterwai Girls High School, said they were happy with the Chepsaita Cross Country run because of its impact on education and the local community.

“We have met here for planning purposes, so we aim to help the most needy learners among us so that they can pursue education and change their lives,” she said.

She said the theme Run for Education was impactful to the community, which had already benefited from the first and second editions.

“As we head to the third edition, we are preparing well as schools so that we can participate as we also target to uplift the less fortunate learners,” said Koech.

“This initiative has helped to keep many of our learners in school because they got fees from the Great Chepsaita Cross Country run, and as teachers, we are proud of that,” said Koech.

Chepsaita Secondary School is one of the local education institutions that Farouk has supported at an individual level and through partnership with the MPESA Foundation.

Through Farouk’s vision, the foundation is putting up an administration block, a laboratory, and a girls’ dormitory at the school.

The principal of the school, Julius Mibey, and chairman of the school board, Dr Mark Leting, said the school was expanding and performing better because of Farouk’s support initiatives.

“Farouk has been passionate about supporting education, and our school did not have the new facilities that are now coming up. We appreciate the support from him and the MPESA Foundation,” said Dr Leting.

Mibey said the school enrollment had increased from 532 to 732 because it was now attracting more learners.

“As schools and as a community, we are proud of all the initiatives initiated by Farouk in this area,” said Mibey.