NAIROBI, Kenya, July 2, 2025 – The fourth edition of the Nairobi City Marathon – scheduled for July 6 – is set to record its biggest ever attendance, with a number of elite athletes among those penciled in to compete.
Race director Kennedy Tanui said they have so far registered 15,000 runners, with the number projected to increase to 16,000 by the close of business on Thursday (July 3).
“The marathon has grown in leaps and bounds and offers scenic views and unique experiences for all participants. This year’s competition has registered the highest number of competitors, which is 15,000. This is up from 13,000 that was registered last year and the number is expected to increase. We still have some slots remaining in the 4km fun run and expect the number to rise to 16,000,” Tanui said.
The marathon was first held in May 2022 and has become a staple of the local athletics calendar, attracting numbers far and wide of the Kenyan border.
Tanui revealed that this year’s participants are drawn from 75 countries including 13,379 from Kenya, 375 from China, 100 from India and 86 from the United Kingdom, among others.
Big names to look out for on the material day include American-based Edward Cheserek, two-time Paris Marathon champion Paul Lonyangata, Sandrafelis Chebet, and Philomena Cheyech, among others.
Speaking at the same time during a press briefing, Athletics Kenya (AK) president Lt Gen (Rtd) Jack Tuwei exalted the increasing significance of the annual competition.
He expressed optimism that the competition will soon make it into the same league as the World Marathon Majors.
“Nairobi is becoming more and more attractive to runners from across the world. We aim to become a reference marathon in the next few years as we continue to attract more foreigners. We want to aim higher to the level of World Marathon Majors,” Lt Gen (Rtd) Tuwei said.
He encouraged Kenyans of all walks of life to come and cheer the participants as they take in the best that Nairobi has to offer.
“Let’s make it more peaceful and make it green. We show this love through sustainability. I want to make a special appeal to all Nairobians to turn up in numbers and cheer other runners,” the president said.
This year’s edition centres on the theme, ‘I love Nairobi – Run the City you Love’, which captures the pride in place, celebration of urban identity, and commitment to a cleaner, healthier city.
All the four races – 42km, 21km, 10km and 4km fun run – will start at Uhuru Park and will be majorly run on the Expressway as has been the norm.
Furthermore, the competition will impress the importance of sustainability through collaboration with a number of institutions including United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI), Roam, and Center for International Forestry Research and World Agroforestry (CIFOR-ICRAF).
“Like in previous editions of the marathon, SEI Africa will support Athletics Kenya in installing air quality sensors to monitor the quality of air around the marathon course and ensure the event meets the environmental standards and climate change goals provided for in the World Athletics Sustainability Strategy and the UNFCCC Sports for Climate Action Framework respectively,” Anderson Kehbila, Programme Leader for Energy and Climate Change at SEI Africa.
Also speaking, Habib Lukaya, Roam’s Regional Sales Operations Manager, said:
“We are proud to contribute to this year’s marathon with our electric motorcycles and buses. By combining clean mobility with real-time air quality monitoring, we are demonstrating how innovation can improve athlete safety and reduce environmental impact at major public events.”
This year’s event offers a prize pool of just over Ksh 24 million with winners of the marathon receiving Ksh 3.5 million each.
The first race, which will be the 21km, will begin at 8:15 am, followed by the 42km, 30 minutes later.
