This archive report was first published on 25 May 2020.
On Saturday, Eliud Kipchoge, the world marathon record holder, visited the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy for a 'recce' ahead of the Virtual Lewa Safari Marathon Challenge on June 27.
With elephants, buffaloes, and other wildlife providing a spectacular backdrop, Kipchoge had Lewa's rangers as pacemakers as he surveyed the Safaricom Lewa Marathon course.
The Virtual Lewa Safari Marathon Challenge is a stop-gap replacement for the traditional race that has raised Sh50 million annually for conservation, community development, and education projects across Kenya.
For Saturday's training run, apart from the rangers, Kipchoge and his team were joined by Sarah Watson, the Director of Programmes in Africa for conservation concern Tusk Trust, and Lewa's head of anti-poaching Edward Ndiritu.
“I urge everybody to participate and just run where they are. We are all part of the human family and we must keep strong, stay fit, observe directives from our government, and know this situation is not permanent,” Kipchoge appealed.
