This archive report was first published on 25 May 2020.
On May 25, 2020, Eliud Kipchoge, the world marathon record holder, visited the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy in central Kenya 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 surveyed the Safaricom Lewa Marathon course with Lewa's rangers as his pacemakers.
The Virtual Lewa Safari Marathon Challenge was conceived as a stop-gap replacement for the traditional race, which has raised Sh50 million annually for conservation, community development, and education projects across Kenya.
For Saturday's training run, Kipchoge was joined by six rangers, world half-marathon record holder Geoffrey Kamworor, Toronto Marathon course record holder Philemon Rono, and Jonathan Korir, a 2:06:45 marathoner.
They were also accompanied by Sarah Watson, the Director of Programmes in Africa for conservation concern Tusk Trust, and Lewa's head of anti-poaching Edward Ndiritu.
“No human is limited,” Kipchoge said, as he appealed to everyone to participate in the virtual marathon challenge.
“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,” he added.
