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First Lady Margaret Kenyatta has led hundreds of Kenyans to launch the registration for the second edition of First Lady's Nairobi Half Marathon.
The marathon, slated for March 8, 2015, aims at raising awareness and funds through her "Beyond Zero" campaign to increase support for maternal, newborn and child health in the country.
During the launch at Karura forest in Nairobi, the First Lady led various participants, including Cabinet secretaries, senior government officials and governors' spouses in a 3km family fun run in the forest.
Speaking during the occasion, the First Lady called on Kenyans from all walks of life to come out in large numbers and register to support the noble cause.
She revealed that the financial support received from friends, relatives and development partners had enabled the campaign to purchase 20 mobile clinics.
Seven of these mobile clinics have already been handed over to governments of counties with the highest maternal and child mortality rates in the country, including Taita Taveta, Narok, Samburu, Homa Bay, Baringo, Isiolo and Wajir.
"Our marathon is not over. We still need your good support to purchase 27 more clinics so that our dream of providing one mobile clinic to each of our beautiful country's 47 counties becomes a reality," she said.
The First Lady called on devolved governments to supplement her efforts to ensure that more people benefit from the Beyond Zero initiative.
"One mobile clinic per county is certainly not enough to meet the huge health needs of each county. We need to have more clinics," she added.
She thanked Kenyans and friends who supported the inaugural edition of the First Lady's Half Marathon early this year, which attracted over 30,000 runners.
The First Lady stressed the need for healthier lifestyles, saying many Kenyans were dying of non-communicable diseases arising from lack of exercise and poor lifestyle choices.
The First Lady congratulated Dennis Kimetto for breaking the World Marathon record in Berlin last month, and paid tribute to Rita Jeptoo and Eliud Kipchoge for making it a clean Kenyan sweep at the Chicago Marathon last weekend.
She also wished the strong Kenyan team of Wilson Kipsang, Geoffrey Mutai and Edna Kiplagat all the best as they compete in the New York Marathon in two weeks' time.
During the occasion, National Social Security Fund through the chairman Adan Mohamed presented the First Lady with a cheque of Sh7.5 million in support of the second edition of First Lady's Nairobi Half Marathon.
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