Fledgling Nairobi City Marathon the talk of Rotterdam

In Rotterdam, The Netherlands

The world’s love for Kenyan athletics has been on rich display here with the Nairobi City Marathon’s stand at the Rotterdam Marathon Expo drawing in huge numbers of runners and fans alike.

The second edition of the Nairobi City Marathon – whose iconic route hugs the Expressway - will run on May 21 and the huge global pre-race hype is being felt here in the port city of Rotterdam that hosts the Rotterdam Marathon on Sunday.

Kenyans Brimin Misoi (two hours, eight minutes and 30 seconds) and Agnes Barsosio (2:24:45) won the men’s and women’s 42-kilometre titles at the inaugural Nairobi City Marathon last year with this year’s competition also featuring the full and half marathon races alongside a 10-kilometre “Expressway Run” and five-kilometre “Fun Run.”

At this weekend’s Rotterdam Marathon Expo, a total of 1,100 running enthusiasts had filed by the Nairobi Marathon Stand by early Saturday afternoon and more numbers were expected ahead of the expo’s closing time.

They played a roulette-like game for a chance to win an expenses-paid trip to Nairobi for the marathon with one winner having been identified by Saturday afternoon.

Others won various promotional items like branded water bottles and sun visors.

There will be another Nairobi Marathon booth on the sidelines of the Antwerp Marathon and 10-kilometre Run in Belgium next Sunday.

The Golazo Group, whose head office is in Brussels, Belgium, is organizing and marketing the Nairobi City Marathon alongside Athletics Kenya with the Nairobi City County Government expected to also come on board as partners shortly.

Athletics Kenya President Jackson Tuwei and Golazo Group Chief Executive Officer Bob Verbeeck were among the VIPs who passed by the Nairobi City Marathon stand at the expo Saturday.

“We are grateful to the organisers of the Rotterdam Marathon 2023 for accepting to promote our Nairobi City Marathon during their race. They have produced items that can be won by persons who visit the stand and play various games which are displayed,” Tuwei reacted.

“The Kenyan stand is one of the most popular and attracted many spectators and various groups. For this, Nairobi is likely to attract many visitors during the marathon and join the already growing number of athletes who have confirmed their participation,” Tuwei added.

He encouraged Kenyans to sign up and run or simply to attend the Nairobi City Marathon in large numbers on May 21 “and welcome all the runners and visitors in our usual style of hospitality.”

In Sunday’s Rotterdam Marathon itself, Dutch champion Abdi Nageeye and Belgium’s course record holder Abdi Bashir are the frontrunners in the men’s division with the Kenyan field including 2022 Abu Dhabi and Melbourne champion Timothy Kiplangat, Kenneth Kipkemoi, fifth here last year, and Mathew Sang, third in last year’s Malaga Marathon in Spain.

Temoi Kipsang will be making his debut.

Bashir is the fastest in the field with a personal best time of two hours, three minutes and 36 seconds clocked here in 2021, and which is also the current European record.

The women’s field is led by Ethiopia’s course record holder Tiki Gelana (2:18:58 set in 2012) with Kenyans in the field being Lisbon Marathon champion Bornes Kitur and Eindhoven Marathon title holder Pascalia Jepkogei.

The other top contenders are Bahrain’s Kenya-born pair of Rose Chelimo and Eunice Chumba.

“Rotterdam has been good to me and I’m happy to make a comeback here expecting another fine performance,” Gelana, 36, said at the pre-race press conference on Friday with Chumba confident she will beat injury-plagued Gelana’s mark.

“The course record here is 2:18:58 and I’ve trained well and I’m confident that if I run well and all goes according to plan, I will break that record,” Chumba, winner of last year’s Abu Dhabi Marathon said.

About 50,000 runners are expected in today’s marathon which is organised by the Golazo Group that has also opened an office in Nairobi under the name ‘Golazo Right Here’ and is already curving out a niche in sports management in Kenya.

The Rotterdam Marathon enjoys a rich tradition with previous winners here including Kenyan legends Eliud Kipchoge, Patrick Makau, Tecla Loroupe and Sammy Wanjiru.

Sunday’s race starts at 10:00am local time (11:00am Kenyan time).