Limo Kipkemoi conquers Salomon Summit to Summit Mountain Challenge

Limo Kipkemoi has become the first man to summit both Mt Kilimanjaro and Mt Kenya. He covered over 400km between the two mountains, in 8 days.

Upon completion of the challenge, Kipkemoi described the experience as “amazing, challenging and brutal, but fulfilling.”

His focus for Day 1 (August 14, 2021) was to begin the great run at Umbwe Gate, Tanzania, and to Mt Kilimanjaro Summit.

 “The plan was to move at a moderate speed so that I don't burn out, I needed immense energy for day two. In 14 hours, I was at the Summit, came down and slept for three hours before embarking on my day 2 journey," said the athlete.

On the first day, the runner set off for Mt Kilimanjaro at 4am alongside Salomon teammate James Muhia, summiting the Uhuru Peak at 6pm. He achieved his personal best time at Mount Kilimanjaro, completing the route in 14 hours. He then returned to Marangu by 1am to rest before tackling Day 2.

After day one, Kipkemoi complained of an injured knee from a fall while descending the summit.

"Day two was all tarmac, I had to endure the pain from an injury on the last day of the challenge. By evening, my thighs were bleeding and this pain followed me to the last day,” he said.

Day two’s challenge began in Marangu and ended in Kimana - a mind-blowing 85km across the Kenyan border. He arrived in Kimana at 8:30pm for dinner.

On Day 3, he ran from Kimana to Emali. Due to curfew restrictions, he was forced to stop 18km short of his target.

Day 4. He tackled 18Kms from Emali to Machakos.

“At 5am I was out, hungry, tired but ready”. Freeman, a friend of Kipkemoi, joined him 5km to Emali. We defied navigation and decided to take a short cut to Machakos from Emali. It ended up being 21km longer. The sun was scorching. The run doubled up as a fundraiser for my mate, towards his mother's medical bills,” said Kipkemoi.

Day 5: - Limo covered the distance between Machakos to Ngoliba.

Day 6. – Distance covered between Ngoliba to Sagana

On Day 7, he ran from Sagana to Naro Moru.

He started earlier than usual since it was going to be a long day and opted to do much running along the railway. Just after Karatina the run changed for good. While debating if it was shorter following tarmac or rail, Freeman (Limo’s Friend) received a call that his mother had died and he needed to be in Nairobi. Freeman had been running to fundraise towards his mother’s medical bills since day 4.

Kipkemoi was joined by James Muhia.

Day 8 (August 21, 2021). Another set of fresh legs, Victor and Ayuma joined for the final push. The team with Kipkemoi started at 6am, 14km away from Met station, destination Lenana peak and down Old Moses. It was the hardest part of the challenge. With support from Victor who paced Limo they managed to summit Lenana and back down to Old Moses by 6.30pm.

An assortment of Salomon hiking and trail-running gear equipped Kipkemoi for his challenging endeavours.

Going Outdoor - brand distributors for Salomon in EA- Marketing Executive Aliyana Darwesh congratulated the athlete for the feat.

"Limo Kipkemoi summited Uhuru peak on Mt Kilimanjaro and ran more than 400kms to Lenana peak to the summit of Mt Kenya and back down in 8 days. Going Outdoor prides itself in helping sports personalities achieve new limits and realise their potentials. Limo's feat demonstrates yet once again as the great Eliud Kipchoge said that “no man is limited," said Darwesh.