The Nairobi City Marathon, originally slated for this Sunday, has been rescheduled to September 8 due to the current political situation in the country.
Athletics Kenya (AK) president Jack Tuwei announced the changes during the official launch on Tuesday.
“After widespread consultations and evaluation, the Nairobi City Marathon — scheduled for this Sunday, has been postponed to September 8,” Tuwei noted.
“The postponement has been occasioned by circumstances beyond the control of the organising committee."
“We apologise to anyone who spent their time and resources preparing for the marathon. We will work non-stop to ensure the marathon is one of the biggest and most memorable,” Tuwei added.
In addition, the marathon will see a change in the starting and finishing points.
The marathon’s technical liaison, George Kariuki, said the start will be at Kenyatta Avenue as opposed to last year when the race started at Douglas Wakiihuri Road.
The finish line has been moved from the Nyayo Stadium to Uhuru Park.
“Due to the challenges experienced at the starting point last year, we have moved it to Kenyatta Avenue, which is wide enough to accommodate over 30,000 runners,” Kariuki noted.
He expects to surpass last year's numbers.
“In the first year, we had 10,000 participants. Last year's edition had 15,000. We expect more this year,” Kariuki said.
Ethiopia, Tanzania, Uganda, South Africa, China, England, France and Belgium are expected to send runners.
The marathon will feature a full marathon, half marathon, 11.7km race, and 4km.
Registration is ongoing on www.nairobicitymarathon.co.ke.
The charges are Sh1,500 for the full marathon, Sh1,200 for the half marathon, Sh1,000 for the 11.7km race and Sh500 for the 4km race.
The prize money remains unchanged — Sh3.5m for the 42km winners and Sh2.3 and Sh1.5m for the runners-up and second runners-up respectively.
The half marathon will fetch Sh150,000 for the winner, Sh80,000 for second place and Sh50,000 for third place.
