This archive report was first published on 30 November 2019.
On Saturday, the Kakamega Forest Marathon took place in Shinyalu Constituency, with Mathew Kemboi from Elgeyo Marakwet emerging as the champion. He completed the 42-kilometer race in 2 hours 19 minutes and 38 seconds, beating his closest rivals Josephat Bowen and Henry Kiprop, who came second and third respectively.
Josephat Bowen finished the race in 2 hours 19 minutes and 53 seconds. This was Kemboi's first win after finishing second in the previous year's marathon. He expressed his gratitude to God for the victory and stated that his aim is to do better in future races.
"I want to thank God for the victory, I'm very happy for winning this race and I want to say I have achieved my target of finishing a step higher than last year," Kemboi said.
Notably, Kemboi had also won the Vienna Marathon this year. He expressed his willingness to participate in future races. In the women's 21km race, Vivian Chepkirui finished first in 1:16:23, followed by Naomi Chebet in 1:16:28, and Agnes Keino in 1:16:40.
The Kakamega Forest Marathon aims to conserve Kakamega Forest through a partnership between Kakamega Forest Heritage, Citizen TV, and Mulembe FM.
