Henry Muchoki leads his teammates during speed work training at Karatina Stadium in Nyeri county on May 20, 2025.
Long distance runner Christopher Thuita had mapped out his track and field season with the precision of a Swiss clock — train hard in the 5,000 metres and hit peak form before the Nyeri County Athletics Championships.
But two months ago, the Karatina Talent Runners Club athlete’s training programme was severely disrupted.
While training at Karatina Stadium, in Nyeri County he stumbled and fell after stepping into a mole hole on the bushy running track, injuring his ankle.
"I thought by now I would be okay and back in shape," he said, "but I have not completely healed and cannot step on the ankle without experiencing pain. I am losing hope for this season,” said the 18-year-old Thuita, a talented runner who represented Ihuririo Secondary School in boys’ cross country at last year’s Secondary School Games Athletics Championships in Machakos.
Moles and ants have overrun the Karatina surface, making the only usable athletics ground in the area a dangerous place for runners just weeks before the County Athletics Kenya Track and Field Championships slated for June 7.
Athletics Kenya Nyeri branch secretary Daniel Gachara told this writer this week that because of the unavailability of Ruringu Stadium that is yet to be opened for use after renovations, they have earmarked Karatina Stadium to stage the county championships.
The stadium, first excavated for construction in 1956, is situated in Karatina town. It has been neglected for years, with little done to improve its facilities leaving athletes with a track overrun by plants to do their speed training.
Famed world beaters have trained in this stadium the likes of multiple Lewa Marathon champion Philemon Gitia, and former Kenyan 5,000 metres champion Gideon Gathimba.
The steeplechase water area, filled with refuse, on a track overgrown with vegetation at the Karatina Stadium in this photo taken on May 20, 2025.
Some athletes have been forced to relocated to other counties in search of better facilities.
In 2020, the county government erected a perimeter fence around the stadium, installed two metal gates, and employed a security guard after reports emerged that it had turned into a hideout for drug takers and criminals.
However, no work was done on the running track and football pitch.
The last time the stadium was used for a major athletics meet was in 2014, and since then minimal sporting activities have been staged there. In fact, the steeplechase pool has been converted into a garbage pit.
Athletes who still use the stadium for training like Thuita have been forced to adopt by hoping over or skirting past the natural hazards – moles, anthills, as they do their track running.
They also have to reckon with goats grazing on the stadium field.
Karatina Talent Runners coach Sospeter Mwangi is disappointment with the state of the stadium, saying it was difficult to build a strong athletics club with such training conditions.
"My budget for nursing injuries from my athletes is huge. At times I prefer taking them for speed workouts on footpaths in coffee farms.
An ant hole at Karatina stadium in Nyeri county.
“Once a runner shows signs of peaking form, I let them join other clubs outside Nyeri where they can get good training," he said.
He added, "It is good for the stadium to have a perimeter fence, but what is the point of having a fence in a stadium that has no running track worth talking about? An athletics running track would cost far less than erecting a fence. We are willing to maintain it ourselves."
Contacted, Nyeri CEC in charge of Sports Esther Ndung'u said they were not aware of Karatina being designated as the venue for the forthcoming county athletics championships.
“What can we do if the athletics officials don’t share their calendar?" she said.
Ndung'u added that the county did not have the finances to construct stadiums with tartan running tracks. Last year’s Nyeri County Track and Field Championships were held at Ruring’u Stadium.
