Iten

Iten is a small town in Elgeyo-Marakwet County in the Kenyan highlands and one of the largest urban centres of the county. It lies on the road between Eldoret and Kabarnet at the junction of the road to Kapsowar, on the western escarpment of the Gregory Rift at an altitude of about 2,400 metres, with the Elgeyo escarpment and the Kerio River to its east. The 2019 census counted 42,312 people. Iten shares a local authority with the small town of Tambach and was the headquarters of the former Elgeyo-Marakwet District from 1966, when it replaced Tambach. Its name is a local corruption of Hill Ten, a rock formation named by Joseph Thompson in 1883. The town is also known for the thousands of long-distance runners who train there every day.