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Kenya's Boston Marathon Team Gets Spirited Welcome At Hopkinton School

HOPKINTON (CBS) – The Kenyans have arrived in Hopkinton and that means the Boston Marathon is just days away.

Read: 2018 Boston Marathon Coverage

Kenya's team of elite runners made their annual visit to the Elmwood Elementary School Thursday with a lively pep rally in the gym and a memorable group run with third-graders outside afterwards.

Edna Kipligat
2017 Boston Marathon champion Edna Kipligat poses with Elmwood School students in Hopkinton, April 12, 2018. (WBZ-TV)

The group of ten runners - which included defending champions Edna Kipligat and Geoffrey Kirui and 2015 winner Caroline Rotich - also visited a classroom and took questions from students about the Kenyans' training, their culture and their homeland.

Geoffrey Kirui
2017 Boston Marathon champion Geoffrey Kirui poses with Elmwood School students in Hopkinton, April 12, 2018. (WBZ-TV)

Third graders spend part of the school year learning about Kenya and its culture to prepare for the event, which is known at Elmwood as "Kenya Day."

The Elmwood School event began in 1992 when 150 students welcomed three-time Boston Marathon champion Ibrahim Hussein and his Kenyan teammates.

The school is 1.3 miles away from the starting line in Hopkinton.

You can watch the 122nd Boston Marathon live on CBSBoston.com and WBZ-TV, Monday, April 16. Pre-race coverage on WBZ-TV begins at 7 a.m., with race coverage at 9 a.m.

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