The second annual Nandi Road Race has been handed a boost after gaming firm Mozzart Bet Kenya offered a Kshs 3 million sponsorship to cater for the race.
For the second time, the leading betting firm Mozzart Bet has been unveiled as the title sponsor for the annual Re-discover Nandi Road Race 10km that will take place Sunday, 3 July.
On July 2nd, a tree planting session will be held in line with this year’s theme of the event “Efforts to support green economy and enhancing resilience to climate risks”, before the race kicks off the following day.
The Re- discover annual Nandi Road Race event brings together all the tea estates in Nandi County for a stakeholder’s engagement and the tree planting exercise.
The forest cover in Nandi county is 24% and the intention is to push it to 50% to supplement government efforts of having 10% forest cover countrywide,” offered Country Manager Sasa Krneta as he announced the Ksh 3 million sponsorship on Thursday in Nairobi.
Local Organising Committee chairperson Hosea Sanga says the event so far has brought 550 male and 230 female athletes drawn from across the country, adding that more are expected to show interest as time goes by.
“We have seen tremendous growth since the inception of this race. The impact on the community has also been immense since we launched the tree planting exercise. We also use the registration fees from athletes to buy and distribute sanitary towels to schools around the community where that race takes place,” added Mr. Sanga.
Hosea says registration is set to open in the coming week.
The race will be flagged off from Nandi Forest, Kapsasur on Kisumu Road and at Namgoi Primary School.
Each of the participating athletes will also be provided with tree seedlings to plant as part of measures to mitigate climate change.
Last year’s edition, experienced long-distance athletes Nancy Jelagat and Emmanuel Bor conquered the hilly course to be crowned champions of the 12th edition in Kapsabet.
Jelagat who won the 2019 Family Bank Half Marathon clocked 31.30 to storm to victory ahead of Daisy Jerotich who timed 31.38 while Naomi Chepng’eno completed the podium places in 32.31.
Bor, finished meters ahead of closest competitor Daniel Kiprotich in 28.21 as the latter bagged silver in 28.39. Victor Rotich was third in 28.42.
Notable winners of the event since its establishment in 2006 is World Championships bronze medalist at the 2017 and 2019 events in 10,000m, the late Agnes Tirop who won the 2018 edition of the race. Others include 2012 World Half Marathon bronze medalist Paskalia Chepkorir.
