This year’s Standard Chartered Nairobi Marathon due October 27 will adopt a new course as the facilitating bank announced a renewed sponsorship for another five years. Announcing the new changes to the route that will cover 42.1km, the Standard Chartered Bank chief executive officer Richard Etemesi said the new route will accommodate the increasing number of participants besides decongesting the roads. Etemesi said the finer details of their sponsorship will be disclosed in due course but said the purse money for each of the full marathon winners remain at Sh 1.5m. The new route will see contestants battle it out along Forest Road off Museum Hill flyover for the first time and along Koinange Street and Lower Upper Hill Road. Detailing on the new changes in the route, the race technical director Ibrahim Hussein said the full marathon race will run against the traffic for the first time starting outside the Nyayo National Stadium before the runners head towards the city centre. Unlike before when Haile Selassie was part of the route, the section has been scrapped. BATTLE ON HARAMBEE AVENUE The athletes will battle on Harambee Avenue and then Kenyatta Avenue before branching to Koinange Street for the first time then trickling back to Uhuru Highway and then to the University Way before falling back to Uhuru Highway. The runners will for the first time head to Museum Hill flyover before make a turn towards Forest Road. They will make a turn at the Pangani flyover before heading back to Museum Hill on to Uhuru Highway through Uhuru Park and then Lower Upper Hill Road for the first time. The competitors will head to Bunyala Road round about on to the Aerodrome Road for the first time before making a turn at Madaraka round about back to Uhuru Highway. The athletes, who will now have covered 21km will, head towards Mombasa Road before making a turn at Vitafoam Mattresses Company back towards the City Centre. They will however, make another turn at Lusaka Road round back to Mombasa Road before making the last turn at Vitafoam for the finish at the Nyayo National Stadium The two loops between Lusaka Road and Vitafoam will cover 20km. The 21km contestants will also run against the traffic from outside the Nyayo National Stadium –Uhuru Highway, Harambee Avenue, Kenyatta Avenue, Koinange Street, University Way, Museum Hill, Forest Road, Uhuru Park, Lower Upper Hill Road, and Aerodrome Road, Lusaka round about before ending at the Stadium. The 10km race competitors will see contestants making a turn at Kenyatta Avenue after clearing the Koinange Street back to Nyayo National Stadium without branching on Uhuru Park or Lower Upper Hill road. Hussein further announced times for road closure during the race. The road between Lusaka Road roundabout and Munyala Road roundabout will be closed between October 26 at 10pm to October 27 at 1.30pm. The route covering Uhuru Highway, City Centre and Lower Upper Hill will close between October 27 between 4am and 11.30am while Aerodrome Road, Madaraka roundabout and Uhuru Highway up to Vitafoam will close on October 27 between 4am and 11.30am. The route between University Way roundabout Museum hill flyover and the right side of Forest Road will close on October 27 between 4am and 11.30am. All proceeds from the Nairobi Marathon go towards Seeing is Believing, a SCB Charity aimed at eradicating avoidable blindness. Last year, Sh 21m was raised and went into funding cataract in Sabatia, Kikuyu, Tenwek, Kwale and Lighthouse for Christ Eye Centre. Etemesi kicked off this year’s registration with entry fee for all races standing at Sh 1000. Registration at SCB starts today on to October 19 5pm, while registration at selected Nakumatt Supermarkets starts on September 27 to October 21. Online registration started on August 15 and will end October 24. Athletics Kenya president Isaiah Kiplagat, who attended the press briefing at SCB offices in Westlands said the race will soon be upgraded to an official IAAF event so that athletes can earn points. “The changes are in our endeavour top up the standards which will give us an opportunity to showcase the city of Nairobi,” Hussein said. In attendance were AK vice presidents David Okeyo, Paul Mutwii and Lieutenant General (Retired) Jackson Tuwei, treasurer David Miano, public relations officer Evans Bosire. Moments of anxiety griped the briefing when Kiplagat cashed on the occasion extended an olive branch to rebellious executive committee members including Okeyo, Mutwii, Miano and Bosire, calling for a session with them to sort out their differences. However, Mutwii insisted that AK headquarters should call for a Special General Meeting that will unlock the stalemate adding that they will go on with their scheduled meeting tomorrow at Riadha House to fix a date for the SGM.
Posted on: Thu, 12 Sep 2013 09:39:49 +0000
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