Kenyan Marathon runners facing backlash??

Last November, I had a story about the Utrecht Marathon and how the organisers had discriminated against foreign runners. They had offered a €100 prize for the overall winner and €10,000 for the first Dutch runner. Now it seems that a Marathon in the Philippines have excluded Kenyan runners after receiving countless complaints from participants.

The Phoenix Petroleum Philippines, Inc. (PPPI) marketing supervisor Neb Bulaclac said..."The complainants said it will be unfair for locals to race with Kenyans as they have been running as their source of income. Kenyans have the advantage over Davao runners," Bulaclac told members of the Davao Sportswriters Association (DSA) Forum at the Tower Inn on Tuesday. He said management will not open an international category since it will entail additional expense for them.

"If we open another category, we will need another P100,000 and that will be too much on our part. We also received complaints from managers of Kenyan runners but we have apologized to them as well," he said.

Hapalua Half-Marathon....In this race scheduled for Sunday in Honolulu, Hawii, the two elite Kenyan marathoners will have to come from behind if they want to win the event's $5,000 first prize. Hand-picked group of local top athletes will be given a head start with the women starting at 5:42 a.m. and the men at 5:51. Prize money will be distributed based on the rank order of finish regardless of gender.

Is this the start of a trend?