According to Athletics Kenya (AK) president Jackson Tuwei who is also the chair of the local organizing committee, more athletes are expected to register before the deadline on Saturday midnight.
Among the elite athletes who have already registered for the full marathon are Edwin Kemboi who has a personal best (PB) of 2:06:52 and who finished fourth in this year’s Seoul Marathon in March.
Joshua Kipsang (2:08:09), Simon Kipkosgei (2:07:07), and Robert Kipkemboi (2:07:09) are among the fastest athletes who have registered for the 42km race.
Maseret Yitbarek (2:11:34), Desta Tafa (2:11:13), Haile Assefa are leads foreign legions from Ethiopia who have confirmed their participation.
In the women’s 42km race, Lydia Simiyu (2:25:44, Sheila Chepkoech (2:27:04) and Sharon Cheimo (2:33:03) are among the Kenyans who will battle it out in the women’s 42km race.
Tuwei disclosed that athletes can register online through www.nairobicitymarathon.com for the four events; 42km, 21km, 10km and the 6km fun run.
“As we speak now we have 8,888 athletes who have registered and this number keeps changing as more people are registering. We expect by tomorrow (Thursday) or Friday we would have surpassed the 10,000 mark. So far I think this event will be more successful than the first edition. We are still urging everybody to register before the deadline on Saturday midnight,” said Tuwei.
Tuwei urged counties to sponsor athletes in order to give more opportunities for runners to compete in the event being the only local marathon in the country to be staged in the country at the moment.
At the same time, race director Ibrahim Hussein expects a tough battle with more than 60 elite athletes both local and foreign having already registered.
“We will be releasing the full list of entries on Friday as we still expect more athletes to sign up in the coming days. We have very fast athletes and the course is very favourable and thus we expect faster times,” said Hussein.
The races are expected to start and end at the Nyayo Stadium with athletes running along the Expressway which will be closed on the better part of Sunday.
Local athletes are registering with Ksh1,500 for the 42km race, Ksh1,200 for half marathon, Ksh1,000 for 10km and Ksh500 for 6km.Their international counterparts will pay $90 for the 42km race, $60 for the 21km race, $40 for 10km and $20 for 6km race.
The winners in the 42km race will pocket Ksh 3.5 million with the second-finisher taking home Ksh 2.25 million while the second runners-up will be awarded Ksh 1.5 million.
Victors in the half marathon will pocket Ksh 150,000 while those who triumph in the 6km race will be awarded Ksh 100,000.
Royal Media Services is the official media partner of the event which will be brought to you live on all our channels. BY CITIZEN DIGITAL