Kenya: Over 600 Athletes Expected At Inaugural G4s Karura Forest Race

Nairobi Star (Nairobi)

29 June 2011

Over 600 participants are expected to grace the inaugural G4S Karura Cross Country Challenge organised by Safety and Risk Management Solutions provider G4S Kenya in partnership with Friends of Karura Forest (FKF).

The challenge scheduled for July 30th at the Karura Forest Reserve will feature three races thus -16km “Mau Mau Trail”, 9km “Trail of Fire” and a 5km “Corporate Challenge.”

Apart from being a fun family event, G4S Kenya is organising the race to raise awareness and financial support for the conservation efforts of Karura Forest. Previously, the forest made headlines for all the wrong reasons owing to instances of crime and land-grabbing.

However, Friends of Karura Forest Association in partnership with the Kenya Forest, have initiated a number of conservation efforts for secure this key natural resource. “This is one of the resource mobilisation activities we’ve come up with. The money raised will be used to fund the Karura Forest’s activities that will see the place converted to a safe eco-friendly place. For this reason, we appeal to other companies to support this noble initiative,” said Adam Miller, G4S regional managing director, during the launch of the challenge.

The organisers have a target of Sh20 million which will be used to improve various infrastructure at Karura, particularly around the waterfalls and caves, building a mountain bike trail and obstacle course in Sigiria, equipping scouts with a radio system to improve security and safety in the forest, fencing the KFS headquarters as well as building a bird walk and picnic sites.

There will also be an attractive purse for the athletes with the top male and female runners in the “Mau Mau Trail” 16km race winning Sh50, 000 each and second placed male and female runners earning Sh25,000 each.

In the 9km “Trail of Fire”, the top male and female runners will get Sh25,000 each with Sh10,000 each going to the second placed male and female athletes.

Former world marathon champion, Douglas Wakiihuri, said the event is a great initiative to help Kenyans keep fit and help conserve the environment. “I, myself, train in Karura Forest and I’ve seen tremendous improvement of the natural resource and would encourage many people to turn up for the race on July 30,” said Wakiihuri, Kenya’s first winner of the London Marathon in 1989.

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