Over 400 athletes have confirmed their participation in the inaugural Roysambu United Mazingira cross country, set for Friday 10th October at the Kasarani open grounds in Nairobi.
Athletes will compete in the 10km senior men’s and women’s and the 8km and 6km junior men’s and women’s races, as well as races for kids and the elderly, with the registration set to conclude on the 8th of this month.
According to the race organiser, Dr Faith Mwaura, the race is aimed at raising funds to support access to education for children from underprivileged backgrounds as well as creating sensitisation on environmental conservation through planting trees.
“We are excited about this cross country, which so far has attracted many participants, as we aim to raise funds to support school-going children from the underprivileged families,” said Dr Mwaura.
Plans are also underway to host the cross country annually to support the government’s climate action of planting 15 billion trees by 2032.
Winners of the 10 km races will receive 40,000 shillings, 25,000 for the 1st runners-up and 15,000 shillings for 2nd runners-up.
“Our target is to have the race annually, and on Friday we will start with a tree-planting exercise before the start of the race at the Kasarani open grounds. We have races for age categories from kids to the elderly and exciting prize money, as winners of the main 10 km races will be awarded Ksh 40,000.” she added
The 8km and 6km junior men and women winners will be rewarded 10,000 shillings each, while winners of the 10km in the community category will pocket 12,000 shillings.
“The race is part of the Roysambu United community empowerment projects, which also include socio-economic empowerment, environmental protection, and community engagement events in Roysambu constituency.” Dr Mwaura concluded.
Athletics Kenya Nairobi region, who have sanctioned the race, will use the race to select a team for the national cross-country championship set for Eldoret on the 25th of this month, where AK will identify the athletes who will represent the country in next year’s World Cross Country Championships set for Tallahassee, United States.
