It is good news for the athletics fraternity in Embu County after Athletics Kenya (AK) pledged to include the newly introduced Mwea Half Marathon in its annual calendar of events.
The announcement was made by AK Senior Vice President Paul Mutwii when he graced the second edition of the marathon held on Saturday within Mwea Game Reserve in Mbeere South Sub-county.
The marathon initiated by Makima Ward MCA Philip Nzangi to raise funds in aid of education for the needy students attracted over 1, 000 participants from across the country, featuring junior, corporate, and the main 21 km race.
The men’s race was won by Alex Nzioka from Iten in a time of 1:02:49, while Martin Mumo from Machakos took second place after posting 1:03:14, and Michael Kamau from Laikipia settled for third position in a time of 1:04:04.
In the women category, the 2022 Singapore Half Marathon winner maintained her winning streak after clocking 1:13:41 ahead of Eunice Muchiri and Mary Munanu, who settled for second and third positions in a time of 1:16:01 and 1:16:05, respectively.
Winners in both categories took home Sh 70, 000 each, while runner-ups bagged Sh50, 000 and third-place winners Sh. 30, 000.
AK Vice President hailed the organisers of the event, which he said was a well-thought-out initiative that will go a long way in identifying and nurturing young and upcoming talents in the county.
“As Athletics Kenya, we must see how we can build this event to an extent that it is going to be international, but we will start by including it in the national calendar of our events starting next year,” Mutwii said.
MCA Nzangi said they were in the process of establishing an athletics training camp within Makima Secondary School to train and improve the skills of upcoming athletes.
“Our dream is to have at least one young man or woman from this Ward participate in the 2028 Olympic Games,” he said.
Embu County Deputy Governor Kinyua Mugo, who was the chief guest, said the marathon was a good platform for profiling the game reserve as a tourism destination.
1987 World Championships marathon gold medallist and 1988 Olympics silver medallist Douglas Wakiihuri will be the brand ambassador for the marathon.
The 42-square-kilometre game reserve that has been in existence for over four decades has remained unutilised despite being home to a significant number of wild animals, including elephants, zebras, buffaloes, gazelles, and the rare Rothschild giraffe.
By Samuel Waititu
