This archive report was first published on 21 June 2021.
On June 18th, a group of top Kenyan athletes, corporate representatives, and wildlife rangers came together for a Fun-Run in Karura Forest, marking the first time the Lewa Safari Marathon organizers have held a promotional event in Nairobi.
The event, hosted by Virtual Lewa Safari Marathon, Safaricom PLC, and Huawei, aimed to draw attention to a wider audience of athletes, families, and corporates to the annual sporting event that impacts thousands of lives across Kenya.
Since its first race in 2000, the Lewa Safari Marathon has raised over 850 million shillings to fund wildlife conservation and community development in Kenya.
According to Peter Ndegwa, CEO of Safaricom, the company's purpose is to transform lives, and there is no better way to do it than to protect the environment and support the communities they serve.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the annual marathon, organized by Tusk Trust in partnership with Lewa, will be the second virtual edition, taking place on June 26th.
With just over a week to go, the marathon has been dubbed one of the top ten marathons in the world by Runner's World, and participants will get to share the trails with some of Kenya's most iconic and critically endangered wildlife.
As Sarah Watson, Tusk's Director of Programmes for Africa, noted, communities and wildlife protection are intertwined, and it is vital that those in the conservation community work together to ensure that families and communities are economically empowered in a manner that places Kenya's rich biodiversity at its core.
