Brimin Misoi and Agnes Barsosio won the inaugural Nairobi City Marathon here on Sunday to take home 60,000 U.S. dollars each.

The richest event in Africa saw 10,000 runners tackle the course along the Nairobi Expressway.

Kenya President Uhuru Kenyatta launched the marathon, dubbed the "Uhuru Classic", which was organized by the Ministry of Sports, Culture and Heritage.

In the men's full marathon, Misoi led a Kenyan sweep of the podium when he recovered from a fall at the start to surge ahead of his challengers before completing the course in 2:08:30.

His surge at the end of the race carried him to the tape ahead of Richard Rop who finished second in 2:09:17, with Daniel Yator closing out the podium in 2:10:15.

"After running for about 54 minutes, I felt strong enough to increase the pace and I did so to win today," said Misoi, who won the Athens Marathon title in 2018.

While the men's race had a three-way battle for victory, the women's full marathon witnessed a solo demolition job from Barsosio, who pounded the course almost unchallenged before stopping the timer in 2:24:45