IT WASN’T ME! Julius Njogu tries to argue his case to race organisers before he was apprehended for trying to cheat his way to second. PHOTO/Joe Muchiri
NAIROBI, Kenya, June 24 – Athletes planning to cheat at this year’s Standard Chartered Marathon have been warned ahead of the event scheduled to run October 30 in the capital city.
Speaking during the launch of the 14th edition, Standard Chartered Bank CEO Lamin Majang said organisers will continue deploying Chip technologies and aerial surveillance to monitor all races.
This is after cheats have become notorious in the annual event with last year’s race seeing Julius Njogu nabbed at the finish line after joining the leading pack of three as they approached the Nyayo National Stadium finish.
Registration for this year’s race has opened with organisers targeting 30,000 participants in all the various categories.
Majang disclosed that the early launch has been driven by the desire to comply with standards observed in international marathons.
“Following the official launch of the process today, the registration window will remain open till August 31st 2016. All registrations this year, individual and corporates, will be done online via www.sc.com/ke/Nairobimarathon at a fee of KES 2, 000,” Majang said.
More than Sh8 million prize money will be up for grabs in the only IAAF-sanctioned race in the region with the race remaining unchanged.
Organisers will be targeting to raise Sh75 million up from Sh40 million last year for charity.
Proceeds from registration will be channelled to the Seeing is Believing initiative, the Standard Chartered’s flagship CSR program that focuses on addressing avoidable blindness among children below 15 years.
Since the marathon was launched in 2003, more than KES 150 million has been raised with more than 10,000 children benefitting from corrective surgery.
To boost the Seeing is Believing kitty, Mr Manjang said 30 Chief Executive officers have been invited to participate in the 2.5Km CEO Challenge race that was introduced last year.
He lauded Athletics Kenya and IAAF for enforcing stringent anti-doping regulations in the sport.
“Although the new measures adopted last year contributed to an inordinate delay in paying out prize money, it is important to ensure that results are beyond reproach,” The CEO noted.
