Written By | Alex Mbamanya
21km women category and 15m cash prize winner Esther Chebet
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BUSHENYI
The first edition of the Olympics Day Tooke Run, staged in Bushenyi over the weekend, attracted a host of elite runners, mainly from the Sebei region.
While many participants turned up because of the lucrative prize money on offer for the winners, others competed not only for the cash prizes but also to sharpen their fitness ahead of upcoming international competitions.
As many athletes continue competing in different races across the continent and around the world, Uganda will be sending a contingent of runners to the 23rd Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland, scheduled for July 23 to August 2, 2026.
Fast-improving Esther Chebet has been named on Uganda's team to Glasgow, and her first race after the team was announced was the Olympics Day Tooke Run half marathon, held on the challenging Mitooma–Bushenyi highway.
She was the only athlete in the competition who had already been selected for the trip to Scotland, and her performance is expected to have given a positive signal to the national team officials and the Uganda Athletics technical team.
Esther Chebet (1), Riska Cherop (2) and Annet Chelangat after having been awared the cash prize by PIBID managing director Dr Florence Muranga
Chebet, who will compete alongside Rebecca Chelangat in the 5,000 metres in Glasgow, is a product of the Uganda Secondary Schools Sports Association (USSSA) talent development system and remains one of the most decorated middle-distance runners at both the national secondary school level and the East African schools level.
Before transitioning to long-distance running after high school, she won four 800-metre gold medals at the USSSA Championships and three at the Federation of East Africa Secondary Schools Sports Associations (FEASSA) Championships, with her last FEASSA title coming in Gulu in 2017.
The Uganda Prisons runner boasts a 5,000-metre personal best of 15:02.15, which she set in Šamorín, Slovakia, in June 2022.
Based on her personal best, Chebet trails Kenya's celebrated runner and world record holder Beatrice Chebet, who holds the women's 5,000-metre world record of 13:58.06, by just over one minute.
In March last year, Chebet clocked 15:27.13 to win the first national 5,000-metre trials before posting 15:28.82 to claim silver in the second national trials.
Her first major international breakthrough came when she represented Uganda at the 2021 Tokyo Olympic Games. She later earned selection to the 2024 Paris Olympic Games and has also represented Uganda at the World Athletics Championships.
