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MTN Kampala Marathon: Ugandans Show Improvement Compared to the Previous Events

For now almost to a month we have been following, updating, and reporting about the MTN Kampala Marathon –  one of Uganda’s biggest sporting event where people from different races, countries, regions, to mention a few come together to contribute a proceeding that is to help and give back to the community.

MTN Uganda has always been organizing the event where for the past 13 events, participants having been running for a single cause, for instance: in 2012 runners raised 300 million UGX for Bududa, 2016 participants raised funds for the implementation of improved sanitation facilities for pupils through the construction of environmentally friendly smart bio-toilet facilities in a number of selected public primary schools in the outskirts Kampala, 2015 the proceeds that were raised went towards improving sanitation through the construction of smart bio-toilet technology for Kampala public schools… to mention a few, however, this time saw a change as the teleco firm gave participants a choice to choose for what cause they would run for – either Improving Komamboga and Kiswa Maternal Health Centers or Reducing Child Exposure to Cancer by replacing cancer causing asbestos roofing in 20 Kampala Schools.

According to the preliminary votes that were unveiled by MTN, showed that 56% of the runners were ready to represent the Maternal Health cause while 46% were reducing child exposure to cancer.

Notably, the MTN Kampala Marathon for one thing we know, is that it continues to be a significant platform for Ugandan athletes as it provides them with a great training opportunity to propel them to international sporting status. In addition, the marathon also includes (since the event isn’t limited to only Ugandans) some of the noteworthy elite runners from Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and other parts of this world – to bring in more challenge and also make more interesting to the participants.

For a while, Kenyans have been dominating all the leads in the event, while Uganda comes in 2nd or 3rd positions – and still the overall winning would go to the Kenyans. However, this time saw a change as Ugandans took the lead in this marathon.

According to some statistics we got from MTN, Kenyans took top honors in the elite 42kM race for men and women races.

Sammy Kip-Ngetich Kurgat topped the Men’s table in the 42KM race run with a finish time of 02:19:05 while Mutai Michael and Lubega Robert both from Uganda finished in the 2nd and 3rd positions at a finish run time of 02:20:44 and 02:21:58 respectively. Sammy Kip-Ngetich Kurgat won a cash prize of 20 million UGX while Mutai Michael and Lubega Robert walked away with 10 million UGX and 5 million UGX respectively.

On the other hand, Kimaiyo Rael Jepyator from Kenya topped the women’s table with a finish time of 02:58:14 bagging 20 million UGX while Migadde Caroline from Uganda and Monicah Jepkorir Mengich came in the 2nd and 3rd positions respectively at a run time of 02:58:39 and 02:58:53 also walked a way with 10 million UGX and 5 million UGX respectively.

As the Kenyans dominated the 42KM race, Uganda came up the challenge to take over the 21KM, and 10KM race for both men and women. And according to the stats, in all the races accept the 5KM (which was newly introduced and meant for family) for both men and women, Ugandans took 13 out of the 15 available slots in the top 5 positions.

The Prize Money:

  1. Kenyans took a majority of the total prize money in the 42KM category for both men and women as they took home UGX 45,000,000 in combined prize earnings.
  2. Ugandans took a majority of the total prize money in the 21KM category for both men and women as they took home UGX 17,750,000 in combined prize earnings.
  3. Overall: Ugandans took a majority of the total prize money in both the 42KM and 21KM category for both men and women as they took home UGX 52,750,000 in combined prize earnings compared to the UGX 46,500,000 the Kenyans took.

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