This archive report was first published on 12 December 2019.
On December 13, 2015, athletes participated in the 9th edition of the Kisumu city national marathon.
Fast forward to 2019, defending champions Silas Ngetich and Maureen Chepkemboi are set to defend their titles at the 13th edition of the Safaricom Series Kisumu City Marathon. However, the race has been shortened to a 10KM event due to reduced sponsorship.
The main sponsors, Safaricom, have pumped in Sh1 million into the event, which is Sh1.5 million short of the usual Sh2.5 million annual sponsorship. Despite the reduction, the event is set to go ahead with 350 athletes confirmed to participate.
Speaking to the Standard Sports, Nyanza North Athletic Kenya Chairman Joseph Ochieng confirmed the shortage and explained that the reduced sponsorship has forced the organizers to scale down the event.
“From the money we have, we can only cater for the 10km race where the top three winners of both the men and women category will walk away with Sh100,000, Sh50,000 and Sh25,000 respectively,” Ochieng said.
However, Ochieng assured that all the top 10 winners of the marathon will also be awarded gift hampers and medals. The event will also feature three new categories: 8km junior men circuit race, 6km junior women circuit race, and 2km veterans.
The 10km race will take place around Milimani Estate in Kisumu.
