City comes to near standstill as runners throng streets

By Oscar Pilipili

Nairobi City almost came to standstill as thousands of runners from all walks of life turned up to “Run for a Reason” in the 10th edition of Standard Chartered Nairobi Marathon.

It was a sight to behold as a sea of humanity snaked their way on traffic free roads with the desire to support the theme of the race: “Run for a Reason.”

Money raised from the Marathon goes towards the eradication of avoidable blindness among children through Standard Chartered community initiative dubbed “Seeing is Believing.”

According to available statistics, Seeing is Believing initiative has helped 23 million people giving more than 2.78 million people back their sight.

The Marathon was all inclusive with elite runners participating in 42km and 21km races, while physically handicapped athletes were involved in 42km tricycles and 21km wheelchair events.

Amateur runners, especially from corporate world had chance to test their raw talent in 10km race, while children as were well catered for in safari junior family fun race.

Standard Group staff were among athletes from the corporate world who participated in the event.

Speaking on behalf of the Standard Group team, Executive Assistant Judy Yego said: “We entered a team of 100 runners in this event to show support for main objective of the event which is to help eradicate avoidable blindness among children.”

Entertainment was in plenty as various groups were at hand to entertain fans at intervals. Participants used the opportunity to shoot memorable pictures at scenic points.