The 17th edition of Standard Chartered Nairobi Marathon is coming up on Sunday October 27 in Nairobi city.
Over 20, 000 elite and fun runners are expected to take part in the competition-categorized into 5km run, 10km run, half-marathon, Co-operate run and full marathon.
In line with the international safety provisions, the Nairobi Traffic department has released an elaborate road closure diversions schedule that will see traffic to and out of the city diverted to alternative roads between 4am and 2 pm.
More than 10 roads will be closed for normal use-a thing which could cause traffic jam elsewhere.
Some of the major affected roads include sections of Mombasa Road, Uhuru Highway, Upper Hill and Forest Road while within the CBD, Kenyatta Avenue, Muindi Mbingu and sections of Haile Selasie and University Way.
However, Nairobi County Traffic Commandant Joshua Omukata says no huge snarl-up is expected.
“We do not expect a major disruption in the flow of traffic. We have carefully organized traffic diversions to ensure that Nairobi county residents have alternative routes to critical locations in the city including hospitals, churches and airports,” Omukata said.
The event organizers have announced a few changes to the route for the six race categories largely due to relocation of the start and finish points back to in and around Nyayo Stadium.
Speaking during a press briefing, Peter Gitau, the Chairman of the Local Organizing Committee expressed optimism that the goal of raising Sh.60 million this year for the FutureMakers initiative will be attained.
“We have increased the prize money from Sh1.5m to Sh.2m for 42km, and from Sh. 150,000 to Sh 300,000 for 21km and we have noticed heightened interest from the elite and fun runners. So far, we have registered close to 18,000 participants and we are optimistic of reaching our target. There is a big uptake from both individuals and corporates entries. We expect this trend to boost the numbers towards achieving our target of 25 000 runners,” Gitau said.