The Nairobi City Marathon organisers expect to beat their best of 15,000 runners when the fourth edition of the race goes down in the capital on July 6.
Race CEO Barnaba Korir said they anticipate a combined 17,000 runners in the four categories on offer — 42km, 21km, 10km and 6km fun run.
In an interview with national broadcaster, KBC, Korir said: “The event has been growing in leaps and bounds towards being one of the biggest marathons in the country.”
“We are going to have a bigger event than last year. We are looking at around 17,000 to 18,000 participants.”
With about 20 days to go, 6,000 runners have already registered, he revealed.
“We already have 6,000 participants registered and have an average of over 200 new sign-ups daily,” he noted. “Nairobians usually register in the final week, so we expect the numbers to shoot up.”
Eliud Magut won the men’s race last year after cutting the tape in 2:09:47 ahead of Josphat Bett (2:10:01) and Emmanuel Sikuku (2:10:05).
Cynthia Limo clocked 2:28:02 to claim the women’s honours with Lilian Jepkorir (2:28:29) and Peris Jerono (2:30:43) in pursuit.
Robert Kiprop (1:00:56), Wilson Too (1:02:14) and Timothy Kibet (1:01:25) claimed the podium spots in the men’s 21km race while Marion Kibor (1:08:55), Gladys Chepkurui (1:09:04) and Sharon Kiptugen (1:09:27) claimed the women’s podium.
This year’s edition will see a venue change, with the iconic Uhuru Park the start and finish point.
“The major change for this year’s edition is the start and finish. Because of ongoing renovations taking place at the Nyayo Stadium, we decided, as AK, to host the event at Uhuru Park,” Korir said.
The Nyayo Stadium is closed for renovations ahead of the Africa Nations Championships (Chan) on August 2-30.
The organisers have held talks with the county leadership in preparation for the marathon.
“It is a big space and a nice area. We had meetings with the county of Nairobi to discuss the practicalities of organising the event within the CBD and the Express Way,” he noted.
“The preparations are going on well. The t-shirts, bib numbers and electronic timing machines are already here.”
