G4S Karura Cross-Country Challenge
8 August 2011
July 2011………Joel Melly and Pauline Waruguru won the Men’s and Women’s 16 KM Mau Mau Trail at the inaugural G4S Karura Cross-Country Challenge, held on 30th July 2011in Karura Forest.
Joel Melly thrashed a strong field that included several elite Kenyan athletes clocking a time of 48 minutes flat, to beat Titus Kimani to second position. Kimani’s time was 48 minutes 1 second. “The course was smooth and I ran my race to emerge the champion. I’m very happy,” said Joel Melly.
Before clinching the title Melly had exchanged the lead with several athletes, including Titus Kimani (second position), Moses Mbugua (third position) and Victor Kipchirchir (fourth position), before taking control of the race with four kilometers left.
Pauline Waruguru clocked 59:49:02 to win the women’s 16KM race beating compatriot Emil Samoei to second position in 59:54:05.
In the 9KM “Trail of fire” race Wilson Mwangi romped home in 29 minutes 59 seconds to win the race, relegating Jeremiah Maina to the runners-up position. Maina clocked 30:36:01.
Japan based Lucy Kabuu, the 2006 Commonwealth 10,000 meters winner, clocked 32 minutes 55 seconds to win the 9KM women’s event, with Lucy Karimi coming in second in 33:13:05.
In the corporate Challenge, the title sponsors G4S scooped the top position, with Fairview taking the runners-up position followed by Tribe Hotel.
Hundreds of Nairobi residents turned up to cheer the runners through the winding paths of Karura Forest. The venue hosted more than 600 individuals and vendors.
Winners in the 16KM event received a cash award of Ksh. 50,000 each, while the 9KM winners received Ksh. 25,000 each.
More than 15 corporate teams participated in the conservation run; these included Kenya Shell, and the British High Commission which entered a team, and contributed Shs 250,000 each towards the Karura Forest conservation efforts.
Other corporates include AON Minet which donated Shs 100,000, and entered a team of ten participants, Viva Total beverages which gave gift bags to the winners, Access Kenya – internet connection for the event, Lucozade- provided Lucozade to participants after the race and Tribe Hotel – free massage to the participants.
The other corporate participants included Fairview Hotel, Sankara Hotel, EABL Foundation, Total Kenya, Nation Media Group, Capital FM Kenya, Magnate Ventures, and Mathare Youth Sports Association (MYSA) amongst others.
Apart from organizing the race in partnership with Friends of Karura Forest (FKF), to raise awareness and financial support for the conservation efforts of Karura Forest, G4S Kenya is also offering at no cost professional risk management services worth Ksh. 3.4 million.
This includes providing an Events Coordinator, who will help FKF with all matters related to events and security in the forest as well as deployment of guards at the 4 entry gates into the forest, emergency response services in case of fire or incidents, cash collection and banking, and an alarm response service at the Kenya Forest Environmental Education Trust (KFEET) Centre, located in Karura Forest.
Previously, the forest made headlines for all the wrong reasons; this was primarily owing to instances of crime and land-grabbing. However Friends of Karura Forest Association in partnership with, the Kenya Forest have initiated a number of conservation efforts for securing this key natural resource.
The organizers have a target of Ksh.20 million which will be used to improve various infrastructure; in particular around the waterfalls and caves, building a mountain bike trail and obstacle course in Sigiria, equipping scouts with a radio system to improve security and safety in the forest, fencing the KFS headquarters as well as building a bird walk and picnic sites.
Mr. Miller, who ran in the challenge, reiterated that G4S recognizes the effect on the impact of business activities on the environment. “G4S is committed to managing and minimizing those impacts in a responsible manner. G4S recognizes the threat to Karura forest and the community that benefits from this natural resource and for this reason G4S will do whatever it takes to secure the resource to achieve a unique urban forest reserve that will serve the community” he concluded.
This year’s marathon saw participation from senior executives who left the comfort of their desks to join in the conservation run. Top on the list were G4S Directors, Nation Media Group CEO Linus Gitahi, British High Commissioner H.E Rob Macaire, former Safaricom CEO and KTB Chairman Michael Joseph among others. G4S is looking at having the G4S Karura Cross-Country Challenge included as part of the annual calendar.
For More information please visit the following site www.g4s-karurachallenge.com or www.karurafriends.org
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About G4S
G4S is the world’s leading Risk management and secure logistics provider with key
operations in over 100 countries across six continents. In Kenya G4S has set up the
pace in Risk management solutions for decades backed by a team of over 15,000 highly
skilled staff. The company provides specialist security solutions to over 5,000
customers across a range of sectors including: government, utilities, financial
institutions, leisure and tourism, and transport.
For more information on G4S, visit www.g4s.com.