Samson Lemayan and Mercy Kwambai emerged winners of this year’s 25th Lewa Safari Marathon that attracted at least 1500 participants from across the globe.
Mr Lemayan from Maralal in Samburu County clocked 2:28:35 to finish the race followed by John Musee and Joseph Kariuki who emerged second and third respectively taking 2:29:18 and 2:29:36 to finish the race.
In the women category, Mercy Kwambai successfully defended her 2023 title leading in the full marathon with a time of 2:47:17, beating Evaline Lagat and Monica Watetu who settled for the second and third positions with 3:02:32 and 3:20:21 respectively.
The Marathon was held at Lewa Wildlife Conservancy in Northern Kenya under the theme, “Connecting Generations through 25 Years of Conservation.”
This year’s event marks a significant milestone in one of the world’s most unique sporting experiences, considering it was cancelled last year due to the Gen Z June protests.
Addressing Journalists during the event, Lewa’s Programmes and Partnerships Coordinator, John Kinoti, said they were grateful that the marathon was successful after last year’s halt.
He said they were proud to see how people turned out in large numbers inspiring them to hold more events in future.
“We want to take this opportunity to thank all our partners and participants because their sweat during the race will not be lost as the funds raised from this event will help us improve the conservancy and support communities through provision of clean water, health services, support education, and women,” said Mr Kinoti.
He added that everyone in the event was a winner and their efforts will touch someone’s life in one way or the other.
In order to intensify participation of children in conservation activities, Kinoti said some of the funds raised during the event will go to primary schools to support the existing environmental clubs.
“We are also allowing children to move around the conservancy and see what we are doing in terms of conservation, this will make them grow knowing how this is done,” said Mr Kinoti.
Safaricom Chief Executive Officer, Dr Peter Ndegwa, underscored the importance of the marathon in wildlife conservation and reduction of the conflict between wildlife and local communities.
He said Safaricom has been the greatest sponsor of the event in the last 25 years and will continue doing so in future.
“In future we will be working with Tusk and Lewa Conservancy to advance technology to support the work being done here,” said Dr Ndegwa.
He said Lewa Safari Marathon has been improving over the years considering that the first race had only 148 participants.
“We also had our different goals in participating in the marathon today including losing weight and keeping fit and we are grateful that we are eventually achieving this,” Dr Ndegwa said.
Meru County Deputy Governor, Lindah Kiome, hailed the event noting that it will bring about economic impact to the County especially to the communities neighbouring the conservancy.
She said this year’s theme was timely especially in enabling the upcoming generations to understand the importance of wildlife and environmental conservation mainly for animals that are under threat of extinction.
“We appreciate the management of Lewa Conservancy and its partners for organising a successful Lewa Safari Marathon that will have ripple effects to our County at large,” said Ms Kiome.
Sports and Youth Executive Committee Member, Julius Murega, said the event was a good platform for the young people from the County to develop their athletic talents which is rare in the region.
“We have also come here to learn how we can effectively hold our own marathon for instance the Mount Kenya run, with a purpose of building strong generations in future,” said Mr Murega.
By Dickson Mwiti
