Thousands of race enthusiasts graced the third edition of the First Lady’s Half Marathon yesterday in Nairobi. Participants started streaming to Nyayo Stadium at 5am for the start of the various races.
The wheelchair race stated at 6:30am. The five kilometre and two kilometre races got underway at 8:30am and 9am respectively. First Lady Margaret Kenyatta opted to run the 10km race unlike the previous years where she ran the 21km race. She ran at the 2014 London Marathon. Kenyatta was joined by Rwanda’s First Lady Jeannette Kagame alongside Deputy President William Ruto and his wife Rachel.
Prominent personalties who attended the event included Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph Nkaissery, Health CS Cleopa Mailu, Central Bank of Kenya governor Patrick Njoroge, US Ambassador Robert Godec, Sports CS Hassan Wario and Athletics Kenya chairman Lt Gen (Rtd) Jack Tuwei.
Security was tight on the busy Uhuru Highway and Mombasa Road, with regular police, AP and General Service Unit personnel manning strategic locations at the stadium and along the route of the marathon Funds raised go towards the Beyond Zero campaign, a project that aims to raise money to increase access to better maternal and child healthcare. Organisers target Sh105 million from this year’s registration.
Last year more than Sh240 million was realised. During the inaugural half marathon in 2014 at Uhuru Gardens, more than Sh200 million was raised. Another aim of the campaign is to build a specialised hospital for mother and child healthcare. Ruto pledged to fight doping after Kenya was put on World Anti-Doping Agency watch list following the increase in cases in the country.