Several roads within and around Nairobi’s central business district will be closed to vehicle traffic on Sunday during the First Lady’s Half Marathon, which promotes Beyond Zero campaign.
Nine major roads in the city will be affected from midnight till the better part of the afternoon; the race is set to start at 6.30am.
Motorists and other road users have thus been advised to use alternative roads for the duration of the event.
The affected roads are: Mombasa Road, Lusaka Road-Mombasa Road Junction to the City Stadium, Aerodrome Road, Bunyala Road-Mombasa Road Junction to Unilever Kenya and Haile Selassie Roundabout (at Memorial Park).
Others are Kenyatta Avenue, University Way, Waiyaki Way and Museum Hill-Waiyaki Way Junction to Ojijo Road/Kipande Road junction.
HEALTHCARE
Launched in January 2014 by First Lady Margaret Kenyatta, proceeds from the event go towards bolstering the Beyond Zero initiative that seeks to improve maternal and child health.
“Beyond Zero is a call to action for policy prioritisation and formulation, increased resource allocation, improved service delivery and better individual health seeking behaviours and practices,” its website says.
It further aims at raising funds to increase Kenyans’ access to better medical care through provision of mobile clinics.
This year’s race will also feature intellectually and visually impaired competitors. The elite athletes’ race has also been incorporated in accordance with the international standards for 21 and 10 kilometre races.