20,000 athletes to join Kenya's first lady for marathon

Around 20,000 athletes will on Sunday join Kenya's First Lady Margaret Kenyatta for the second edition of the Half Marathon which will take place on the same day as the International Women's Day celebrations in Nairobi.

The marathon is aimed at raising awareness and funds to increase support for maternal, newborn and child health in 47 counties in a campaign dubbed "Beyond Zero Campaign", Xinhua reported.

Through the initiative, Margaret seeks to mobilise resources for the purchase of mobile clinics to augment the existing health services and make health care accessible to underprivileged Kenyans throughout the country.

This year's marathon has registered twice as many participants as last year's event which saw over 10,000 entrants taking part in the inaugural marathon event.

Notable elite athletes such as Abel Kirui and Lorna Kiplagat were among those who have confirmed participation in the marathon.

Organisers said on Saturday that races were scheduled to be flagged off at 6.30 a.m. for the wheel chair and tri-cycle races categories which feature in the marathon for the first time.

The 21 kms race will be flagged off at 7.00 a.m. followed by the 10 km race at 7.45 a.m. and finally the 2 km Family Fun run event which shall be flagged off at 9.00 a.m.