Thousands Flock Mbale for Saturday’s Elgon Half Marathon

People from regions across the country are pitching camp in Mbale City ahead of the highly anticipated Elgon Half Marathon scheduled for Saturday November 2, headlined by Uganda’s Olympic medalist Joshua Cheptegei.

Ridding on the mantra ‘Run With the Champion’, the event, an initiative of Cheptegei, UNDP and other development partners, seeks to shed light on the need to take action against climate change as well as end Gender Based Violence (GBV).

Following the unfortunate demise of marathoner Rebecca Cheptegei who succumbed to burns sustained in an acid attack perpetrated by her now deceased boyfriend Dickson Ndiema, Joshua, who had known about her tumultuous relationship, says the half marathon is to honor her legacy and raise awareness on GBV.

Numerous activities leading to the main event have been ongoing in the Elgon region including massive tree planting in select area which attracted various schools in the region and other entities whose values align with the event’s ideals.

According to Cheptegei, mass tree planting in select schools was done to spread the message of climate action to students and pupils who are the next torch bearers in the climate agenda.

Pupils at Kwoti Primary School and Kapchesombe Primary School in Kapchorwa took part in tree planting exercise, an initiative aimed at instilling in them the responsibility for environmental conservation and educating them on how best they can be ambassadors of climate action.

A 5Km walk and community dialogue held at Nabokotum Primary School in Amudat district graced by UNDP resident representative for Uganda Nwanne Vwede-Obahor earlier this week is among the activities done to raise awareness on gender-based violence against girls and women in Amudat.

Speaking at the dialogue, Vwede-Obahor emphasized that raising community awareness about issues such as gender-based violence is key in creating change towards a peaceful and progressive society. She called on local leaders and the Amudat populace to join the cause.

“We don’t run because we love running, or walk because we love walking. We do this to raise awareness to these various issues. I’m told that people here fight especially about cows, goats, girls, chickens. These are petty issues that we need to think through before causing other people harm,” she said.

The Elgon half marathon has 3 races that people can participate in including the 5km, 10km and 21km. The 21km participants will set off at 8:10am, 10km at 8:20am and 5 km at 9:15am.

An awards ceremony awaits those who will emerge victorious and partner exhibitions will be open thereafter.