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Noted Marathoner Killed In Kenyan Violence
POSTED: 3:11 pm MST January 21,
2008
UPDATED: 4:27 pm MST January 21,
2008
PHOENIX -- A noted Kenyan marathoner who had hoped to compete in the Phoenix-area P.F. Chang's Rock 'N' Roll Marathon two weeks ago has been killed in violence in his home country.Wesly Ngetich, 34, died on Monday when he was shot in the chest with an arrow during fighting, according to Race Results Weekly.Ngetich was the 2005 and 2007 men’s champion of Duluth, Minn., Grandma’s Marathon. In 2006, Ngetich set his personal best time of 2:12:10 when he finished second at the Chevron Houston Marathon.Ngetich had hoped to travel to the Phoenix-area for a marathon in early January, but violence in his hometown of Trans Mara prevented him from leaving."Words cannot express our feelings at this moment. Our sympathies go out to Wesly’s family and friends and our thoughts and prayers will remain with them during this extremely sad and difficult time,” said Scott Keenan, executive director of Grandma’s Marathon. “We loved having Wesly here at Grandma’s and he enjoyed coming here. It is difficult to imagine that he is gone.”Ngetich's manager, Hussein Makke, said he had gotten the news of Ngetich’s death from his on-site manager in Kenya."We are extremely sad for this terrible news and send our deepest sympathies to his family for their loss,” Makke told Race Results Weekly. “We hope and pray this fighting will come to an end very soon.”Ngetich was married with three children, ages 8, 6 and 1, according to the Duluth News Tribune. He lived on a 60-acre farm in the southwestern corner of Kenya, close to the Tanzanian border, where he raised corn and beans and had seven cows, the paper reported.ELSEWHERE ON KPHO.COM: For the first time in Super Bowl history, the field won't be the only thing that's green when the Giants and Patriots meet in Glendale on Feb. 3. CLICK HERE for details. MORE SLIDESHOWS: From the bizarre to the tragic to late-breaking news, visit the KPHO.com slideshow section and click away! CLICK HERE for images.
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