The morning of Saturday, September 2, 2023 has been a holiday of sorts in Kasese Municipality as the second edition of the Tusker Lite Mt Rwenzori Marathon took centre stage.
Hundreds of thousands of people thronged Stanley Street, the official start and finishing point for this marathon.
Personalities from all walks of life participated in this marathon which brings out the tourism potential of the Rwenzori ranges and the entire area in general.
Elite runners, politicians, businessmen, students, the young and aged, musicians, famous athletics commentator Rob Walker, socialites and other celebrities engaged in the marathon.
As early as 5:00 a.m., the different runners had already assembled at the starting point and took part in the limbering drills to awaken the body.
First in the fray were the 42 KM runners whose new route from Kasese to Kikorongo Equator area was well appreciated.
Then the 21 KM runners followed suit by 6:50 AM before the largest bulk of runners were flagged off 15 minutes later.
Herbert Kibet of Mother Kevin Track Club in Kampala crossed the finishing line first in the 5KM race.
Kibet was ahead of Barnabas Mugume and Thomas Cheptoyek in the second and third places respectively.
Abel Chebet covered the 21KM in 1:02:56 ahead of Ben Somikwo Chelimo (1:02:57) and Norman Kipyeko (1:03:02).
Oscar Kibet (1:03:02) and Thomas Ayeko (1:03:10) completed the top five males in 21 KM.
Professional timers from the Comrades group in South Africa were in charge of all the runners at this year’s Tusker Lite Mt Rwenzori Marathon.
The marathon is organized by Equator Hikes and is supported by a wide range of partners as Uganda Breweries Limited under the Tusker Lite brand, Britam Insurance, Standard Chartered Bank, Uganda Wildlife Authority, Ministry of Tourism, Rwenzori Natural Mineral Water, Hima Cement, UNDP and others.
Incredible moment