Nairobi County Government and Athletics Kenya to enter into partnership to organise the second edition of Nairobi City Marathon slated for May 21, 2023 as organizers carry out outreaches in Rotterdam and city schools.
The marathon routes include the 5km, 10km, and 42 km races along the elevated section of the Nairobi Expressway.
On Friday the Race Director Barnaba Korir held lengthy discussion with Nairobi County Youth, Talent, and Sports Department Chief Officer Oscar Igaida on modalities of making the marathon more attractive in terms of prize money and said the partnership details will be communicated in the coming weeks.
The organizers have rolled out activation to popularize the event by engaging in various athletics activities in school within Nairobi and setting up stand in Rotterdam ahead of the Rotterdam Marathon set for Sunday (yesterday) which was attended by Athletics Kenya President Jackson Tuwei, alongside Golazo Group CEO Bob Verbeeck who is Nairobi event organizer.
Speaking at Karen C Primary School in Karen on Saturday where the Nairobi Marathon organizers held charity athletics activities for the students, Korir, said the charities are forms of identifying and nurturing talents in line with the government’s Talanta Hela Initiative.
“These charity engagements are being driven to give kids in schools opportunities to compete and empower them with running technicalities, and the programmes will be carried out in various schools within Nairobi just like we had had athletics camps across the country. These youths just need basic equipment to motivate them. That’s why we are giving out t-shirts and medals as a form of encouraging them to like athletics as sports” said Korir.
Korir who is also Nairobi region athletics boss added: “Nairobi Government through Governor Johnson Sakaja has agreed to partner with us to make the event bigger and soon we will be making the partnership announcement with clear details. We are inviting athletics enthusiasts and elite runners for another chance to experience our great city to run on the magnificent Nairobi Expressway, the registration is ongoing in Nairobi on the City Marathon website.”