Foreign athletes will take center stage again as they battle Ugandan elite athletes in the ninth edition of the MTN Kampala marathon that is slated for November 25 at the Kololo Independent Airstrip ground.
The biggest annual sporting event in the country was launched today at a breakfast press conference at Serena Hotel this morning by MTN’s chief executive officer Mazen Mroue and various partners of the annual event.
“We expect a strong field of elite athletes from Kenya, Ethiopia,Rwanda,Tanzania,Burundi,Eritrea and Uganda it this year’s edition,” Dominic Otuchet, the Uganda Athletics Federation president said. “The prize is the same as last year and this is for those that are racing in the marathon itself however their is a break down of money for the other races in the marathon.”
The theme for this year’s race is ‘Run with your heart’ this year all the proceeds from the marathon will go towards the provision of clean water to the people of Bududa.
This year Huawei and New Vision have come on board as sponsors of the popular social event. “I would like to applaud MTN Uganda, a fellow multinational with local presence as Huawei, for facilitating our partnership in the tenth edition of annual MTN Kampala marathon together with the people of Uganda, geared towards improving the communities around us. This initiative is a clear indication that public-private partnerships are necessary in catalyzing the growth of the Uganda economy.” said Eric Yang, managing director Huawei Uganda.
Last year’s edition was won by Kenya’s James Kariuki Mbugua while the women’s marathon was won by Jane Suuto.
Other events are the 21 kilometer race, 10 kilometer and corporate race.