Chris Musumba
23 October 2007
Nairobi — Over 12,000 entries have been received ahead of this Sunday's Standard Chartered Nairobi International marathon as organisers wound up the preparations for the event which will be marking its fifth anniversary.
Geoffrey Githinji, the chairman of the race steering committee, said they are still on course to hit the 15,000 point with the family fun run expected to fill in the deficit. Of the 12,000 entries that have been received, the family fun run can not be quantified as only one registration is required per family irrespective of how many they are.
The Nairobi International marathon is part of the Greatest Race on Earth series which comprises four challenging road races run in four different cities - Nairobi, Singapore, Mumbai and Hong Kong.
Race Director John Velzian has also hinted of a possible new record on the course which has been revised and is fast and flat. Velzian said they opted to do so to enable many of the athletes who will be running in Nairobi to gain the required Olympic qualifying times ahead of the Beijing games slated for China in August.
"This course is flat and fast and we expect many of the runners who will be coming to Nairobi to use it to set the required qualifying times which will enable them to compete in the Olympics," said Velzian.
Both the half marathon and main marathon events will have a common starting point outside Nyayo stadium along Uhuru Highway.
Velzian said that to help the athletes get the required times, they have put water points at every 2.5km and not 5km as required by the International Association of athletics Federation (IAAF).
Velzian said only the 10km race will not have its finishing point within Nyayo stadium but along Lang'ata Road. This is to help differentiate between runners in the half marathon, main event and 10km race.
For the main marathon, the athletes will proceed from the starting point outside Nakumatt Mega to the Haile Selassie round about for the turning point, run back past Nyayo stadium through to Mombasa road for the second turning point.
They will then come back to the Langata/Lusaka road roundabout, turn back to Mombasa road to make the last turn and come back for the home stretch and enter Nyayo stadium for the finish run through Aerodrome road.
The Police have also announced plans to close off major roads and divert vehicles leading to the main marathon course on Saturday and Sunday to enable the race be competed successfully.
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