Nairobi Marathon
The Nairobi Marathon is an event where fortunes are made. Talented runners, often average folk who have not yet run a race, come hoping to win the top prize of 1 million Kenya Shillings. This year it was Hosea Kiprotich Rotich, a forest ranger at a game reserve, who plans to buy farm land with the money. The previous year, Chilapong Chemokil, a mother of three, who’s husband sold a goat to raise the fare to Nairobi, won the woman’s category and has since become a serious athlete.
One city of a series called the Greatest Race on Earth (GROE), it is certainly one of the highest at 1800 meters above sea level. People from all walks of life come to run the race, top athletes, handicapped in wheelchairs, families run the fun run. Teams of athletes also compete to run the best overall time of the four races: Nairobi, Hong Kong, Mumbai and Singapore.
The Greatest Race on Earth (GROE) was created in 2004, a virtual relay race across four marathons. The main team challenge category is open to men and women over 18 years of age, of any nationality, with no restriction on the level of competence.