The virtual run kicked off on Monday 25th October for the 18th edition of the Standard Chartered Nairobi Marathon at Karura.

The virtual runs will be taking place through-out the week from the 25th to 31st of October 2021.

There are various hotspots across the country which have been segmented for participants to join other runners for the virtual run.

They are in Thika, Kisumu, Kakamega, Nakuru, Kitale, Siaya, Eldoret, Kericho, Mombasa, Meru, Nanyuki etc. In Nairobi, participants will be converging in the green spaces in Sanctuary, Karura and Arboretum.

The Physical Marathon limited to 2500 elite runners will be held on the Southern Bypass route and is set for the 31st October 2021 at the Carnivore Grounds.

The marathon, which has previously been fully physical, now adopted a hybrid format that includes both physical and virtual participation.

The virtual marathon will be targeting 13,500 participants to encourage active lifestyles among participants.

Commenting on the run, Kariuki Ngari, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) – Standard Chartered Bank Kenya said:  “We are excited to be running here today for the virtual marathon. The registration is still open, and I urge Kenyans to register and be part of the marathon. They can participate virtually at their own space and time and be part of physical marathon dependent with their qualification time.”

To participate, entrants will be required to check the SCNM website on the registration portal and pay a standard fee of KES 1,000.

Then he/she will be required to sign up for the challenge (Either 5Kms, 10km, 21kms, 42kms or 42kms relay).

Speaking during the run, Peter Gitau, the Chairman of the Local Organizing Committee said, “The kit collection exercise is still ongoing. For participants in Nairobi, they can pick their kits at KICC. For the ones across the country, they will be delivered at our offices across the country. For the international participants, we have partnered with DHL to have them delivered. In addition to keeping yourself active, we will also be planting trees. After every finish, we will have every participant been given a tree to plant at the location of their choosing. We plan to plant at least 6,000 trees across the country.”

The physical marathon which is limited to 2500 elite runners from Kenya and other key countries will have the start and finishing points at The Carnivore Grounds. This will feature different race categories namely: 10km, 21km, 21km Wheelchair Race, 42km and the 42km Corporate Relay.

Commenting on this, Peter Ndirangu, Chief Operating Officer, said, “As Dimension Data and the Technology partner to The Standard Chartered Nairobi Marathon, we feel privileged to be part of the virtual run.

 Just completed my 10KM run and I feel rejuvenated. We look forward to more Kenyans participating in the virtual as well as the physical run.”

To allow for safety provisions for the runners, the Nairobi Traffic department has designed an elaborate road closure diversions schedule that will see traffic to and out of the Southern Bypass diverted to alternative roads between 12AM and 1PM on 31st October 2021.

All interchanges to the Southern bypass will be closed with the Dagoretti interchange partially closed. Motorists will be diverted to Dagoretti road, Langata road, Enterprise road, Uhuru highway and Waiyaki way. Trucks from Inland Container Depot (ICD) will be redirected to Mombasa Road within the stipulated period.

Different from previous marathon routes, the Southern Bypass route was chosen due to ongoing road constructions along Uhuru Highway and Mombasa Road.

The route was also picked due to its proximity to the National Park, which has a great scenic route and creates an opportunity to use the marathon to advance tourism.

The physical race will cover 10KM, 21KM, 21KM wheelchair race as well as the 42KM corporate relay. Qualifying times for elite athletes have been adjusted to allow for more reach and inclusion, with registration for the physical marathon done on a first come, first serve basis.

Below are the new qualifying times for the physical run.