Michael Njenga and Lidya Njeri are the new champions of the 13th edition of Henry Wanyoike Hope for the Future Run held on 8th June in Kikuyu, Kiambu County. The race attracted 2,000 participants.
Njenga clocked 25:02 to beat Vincent Boit and Dancun Manyara who finished second and third in a time of 25:22 and 26:09 respectively in the men’s 10km senior race.
Njeri who was participating in the race for the second time crossed the finish line at 30:31 ahead of Pauline Wangui who came in second at 30:37 followed closely by Esther Waweru at 31:18 in the women’s senior race.
In the 9km junior race, Ephantus Githau won in the men’s category crossing the finish line in time of 27:37. He was followed closely by Simon Kimor in time of 29:31 and Mathew Nganga in time of 29:38.
Lucy Wanjiku won the 9km Junior women’s category finishing at 38:13 followed by Joyce Wawera at 41:11and Hannah Muthoni at 47:25.
Michael Njenga and Lidya Njeri each went home with a cash prize of Ksh. 15, 000 while the first and second runners-up in the senior categories pocketed Ksh. 10,000 and Ksh. 8,000 respectively. For the juniors, it was Ksh. 5,000, Ksh. 3,000 and Ksh. 2,000 for the first three positions.
The race comprised of 10kms for seniors, 9km for juniors, wheelchair races as well 3.5 km for veterans and children.
Safaricom sponsored the race to a tune of Ksh. 1 Million in cash. This is in addition to providing security and ambulances for the event whose target was to raise Ksh. 10 million, in kind and cash that will be used to distribute 200 white canes for visually impaired people across all 47 counties.
This year’s goal is to distribute white canes to enhance mobility for visually impaired people enabling them to move around on their own in their places of work, business and school. The Henry Wanyoike Hope for the Future Run is part of the Safaricom Athletics series and has been sponsored by Safaricom since 2017. The Safaricom Athletic series take place all over the country.