Athletics: First open cross-country meeting organised by women launched

Solely organised by women led by Dr. Faith Mwaura, the chairperson of Roysambu United, the meet is the first cross-country ever to be held outside of Athletics Kenya's organized calendar of events in Nairobi.

The team aims to make an impact at the community level through athletics by combining environmental conservation, community health, education, and the sport of running.

Mwaura said they have now adopted athletics in their Miti Millioni campaign to plant trees, raise education funds for needy youth in the Roysambu area, and create a healthy lifestyle through running.

The race at Kasarani Stadium targets 5000 participants, including elite athletes and old and young runners at the village level in the Roysambu, Githurai, and Kasarani areas.

Athletics Kenya has welcomed this open race and described it as a healthy, low-risk competition open to all age groups, a mass participation event compared to road running.

Athletics Kenya Vice President and Director of Competition Paul Mutwii said it was encouraging to see women come up with hosting a cross-country race in Nairobi, the first in decades, when everybody else is reaching out to the federation for permits to organize road races.

"Cross-country running is a low-risk area of competition health-wise and is good for all ages compared to road running, which is not good for young and old people who are subjected to pounding hard surfaces with weak limbs," said Mutwii at Riadha House today.

He was launching the Roysambu United Open Cross Country meeting, organized by a community-based welfare organization in partnership with Athletics Kenya, Nairobi County region, to mark Mazingira Day on October 10.

Apart from the Chepsaita and Discovery Kenya cross-country races in Turbo and Eldoret, Athletics Kenya exclusively organizes cross-country races before major competitions.

"It is encouraging to see that we have people, especially women, who are willing to come out and join us in athletics development at the grass-roots level," said Mutwii.

 Mwaura said they came up with the idea of the cross country to promote the organization's outreach program in the Roysambu area and settled for the race at Kasarani Stadium as a catchment area for tapping young runners and encouraging senior members of the community.

"The purpose of the Cross Country is to raise funds for our key pillars and make an impactful contribution to our community through various monthly engagements tailored for local youth, women's groups, and public schools within the Roysambu area," said Mwaura, who is also a director of the Kenya Development Corporation. 

They aim to raise funds for the school fees of the poor in Roysambu, an area with many school dropouts due to poverty. 

"The theme is environmental sustainability, which aims to unite over 5,000 people to promote nature conservation. Environmental awareness in the community, as well as youth engagement," she said, adding that they will plant 5000 trees under their Miti Millioni initiative, which has grown over one million trees in Roysambu, especially in schools, since 2016.

"We have been planting trees since 2016, not just trees but fruits, especially avocados. So we want to encourage athletes and the running community now to focus on fruits for economic and environmental sustainability. Fruits are good for athletes and cover.

"Other activities will raise more awareness about other initiatives, such as breast cancer, by competing in the race and participating in other activities lined up for the day." 

Speaking on behalf of Athletics Kenya President Jackson Tuwei, Maxwell Nyamu said the race fuses with AK's environmental agenda.

"Athletics Kenya continues to lead the way in sustainability-driven programs, more than four years since it became the first national athletics federation to join World Athletics as a signatory of the United Nations Climate Change (UNCC) Sports for Climate Action Framework, an initiative urging sports organizations to reduce carbon emissions in line with the Paris Climate Agreement on 19 August 2021," said Nyamu.

Athletics Kenya, in partnership with the UNEP Regional Office for Africa and the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI), has made significant milestones in the joint Clean Air campaign by installing air quality monitors in sports venues and schools across Kenya. The clean air campaign has monitors installed in six sports venues, including Kasarani Stadium." 

AK Nairobi Secretary General George Kariuki, flanked by his senior vice, Alfred Tabut, said the registration link for the race will be launched soon.