Governor Jackson Mandago EGH has announced that the Eldoret City Marathon which had been scheduled to be held on April 11, 2021 has been postponed.
In a media briefing in Eldoret, Mandago said the decision has been reached following recent protocols that were imposed by President Uhuru Kenyatta in a bid to contain the spread of Covid-19.
The Governor however said the Marathon will be held once the recent restrictions are reviewed and eased.
“As a county , we have always been proud to host Eldoret City Marathon but because of current Covid19 situation and protocols issued by the president, we have decided to postpone it to a later date,” Mandago announced.
“We are going to have the marathon once the situation is eased and we will be reviewing the situation regularly,” he added.
The Governor assured sponsors for the annual event and the athletes that the Marathon will be held.
“We also point out that registration for the marathon is still ongoing, while also assuring the already registered athletes that their registration fee is intact, and that they will not be required to register afresh when they announce the new date the marathon will be held,”adds the Governor.
The Eldoret City marathon is aimed at championing for Climate Action as it encourages tree planting to increase the forest cover in the country.
According to Mandago, even though the marathon has been postponed, tree planting exercises are still ongoing and they are targeting to plant at least a million tree seedlings in the upcoming rainy season.
“ Other activities like tree planting will go on . Greece Embassy has donated 2,000 tree seedlings to be planted at the Eldoret Arboretum, VTCs and Kapseret forest ,” he added.
Deputy Governor Daniel Chemno who was present when the announcement to postpone the marathon was made said; “when challenges like this come, we have to make decisions .”
The marathon’s Director Moses Tanui said all preparations had been completed and that they were ready to debut an electronic timing system.
“Bibs fitted with electronic chips had already been printed abroad and shipped to Kenya,” said the veteran athlete.
Roads has also been already marked by the technical team in readiness for the marathon which is in its third edition.
So far, 271 participants have completed registration by confirming their payments which brings a total of 326 confirmed participants including 55 sponsored by Ken Knit and Rupa’s Mall.
The marathon has also attracted 13 international athletes among them 6 from Ethiopia and two from the United Kingdom.
County Executive Members for Finance CPA Julius Ruto, Mary Njogu for Water, Chief Officer for Youth Affairs Joseph Maritim were in attendance.
