NAIROBI, October 16 – Six thousand people have so far registered for this year’s Standard Chartered Nairobi marathon.
Standard Chartered Area Head of Corporate Affairs Annie Kinuthia said Thursday that they are still receiving entries at their various registration points and that she is confident that they will reach their intended number of participants.
“Registration is still ongoing at our various centres and starting today all major supermarkets will be receiving entries until October 24 deadline,” said Kinuthia.
Kinuthia added that 50 countries have confirmed participation in the marathon which is the first leg of the Greatest Race on Earth Series.
“We expect this number to go up to about 60 countries and so far we have about 200 international runners who will be taking part,” said Kinuthia.
“The runners are expected in the country next week and they will be hosted at the Rangers restaurant on Thursday in line with the marathon’s objectives to boost tourism in Kenya,” said Kinuthia.
Kinuthia was speaking at City Hall where the Nairobi Mayor Geoffrey Majiwa received a brief from the marathon organizers on the ongoing preparations.
Majiwa underlined the significance of the marathon to Nairobi stating that local youth should use it as a springboard to take part in sports.
“Sport creates an alternative for the youth and I would like to urge them to concentrate in sports because its high time in Kenya that we realized sports is an industry that can improve lives economically,” said Majiwa.
“To me this marathon is a promotion for the city because it will bring people here who will leave here with positive memories of the city,” he added.
Recently re-elected Athletics Kenya chairman Isaiah Kiplagat thanked the Mayor for helping facilitate the marathon.
“The marathon should belong to the city and we would like to thank Mr. Majiwa because he is the first mayor to get involved in the running of this event,” said Kiplagat.
This year’s route has been altered to make the runners compete in the shadow of some of the city’s landmarks.
The new route will see the full marathon start at Nyayo stadium, go down Uhuru Highway before turning at the University way round about into Kenyatta avenue, Harambee avenue and Haile Selassie avenue before moving to Mombasa and will finish inside the stadium.
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