Africa-Press – Kenya. Winners of the inaugural Sirkol Community half marathon that is set for June 17 at the Nairobi National Park will bag Sh250,000 according the event organisers. Over 1,500 athletes are expected to grace the event.
“Saturday will mark our first marathon race since the inauguration of the Sirkol Community Marathon. Winners of both male and female races will walk home with quarter a million shilling while there will be small rewards for those who finish inside the top ten,” Brian Kiberu, head of marketing said.
Kiberu was speaking in a pre-race press briefing at the Kenya Wildlife Service headquarters. Runners-up will get Sh70,000 while third place finishers will bag Sh30,000.
Fourth and fifth positions will get Sh10,000 while the next five will pocket Sh5,000. “The difference between the winner and runners-up reward is aimed at motivating the runners to go for the win,” Kiberu added.
Athletics Kenya have decided to upgrade this race into a half marathon in its bid to test the event if it qualifies to be a marathon in the future according to Fred Onkware, the community’s chairman.
In its first two previous editions the event had hosted only the 5km and 10km races. The race will be making a comeback after being distracted by Covid-19 pandemic.
The last edition was held in 2018. Cyrus Kiptoo won the men’s 10km race in 35.56 while Lombogo primary school girls dominated the women’s category. The event will tee off at 6:30am with the 21km race in the day-long event.
“We have made arrangements with KWS to deploy rangers along Maasai Lounge to minimise the danger of wildlife attack. Police officers at the Oloorsilkol market will help in managing the traffic,” Onkware added.
This year’s event theme will be ‘Enhancing education and conservancy and climate change mitigation’. After the race 1,000 seedlings will be given to Oloselkol and Emakoko schools for planting as a way to fight the climate change menace.
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