Uganda Marathon

Last updated

Uganda Marathon
Uganda Marathon Logo.png
DateJune
Location Masaka, Uganda
Event typeTrail
Distance Marathon, Half Marathon, 10K
Primary sponsorEco Brixs
Established24 May 2015;8 years ago (2015-05-24) (As The Uganda International Marathon)
Course recordsMarathon
Men's: 02:31:55 (2018) Andrew Biegon

Women's: 03:50:05 (2016) Katie Sloane

Half Marathon
Men's: 01:09:59 (2017) John Katdega

Women's: 01:30:54 (2017) Amelia Beckstien

Contents

Official site ugandamarathon.com

The Uganda Marathon is a long-distance running event held in Masaka, Uganda. The event was first run on 24 May 2015 and has been held in the Summer of every year since. [1] the primary function of the marathon is to support community projects in the region surrounding the race.

The date of the next Uganda Marathon is Saturday 31 May 2020. [2]

Overview

Set over a challenging course around the town of Masaka, the event consists of three races, 42 km, 21 km, and 10 km distances. All races begin and end in the centre of the town at Liberation Square.

The Uganda Marathon is the largest sports fundraising event in Uganda, having raised over 2 billion Ugandan Shillings ($930,000). [3] It is unique in the way that it combines the race with tourism, attracting international runners across the world to experience the local area and the projects that the race supports for a week prior to the race.

History

Whilst not the first marathon event held in Uganda, The Uganda Marathon is the first of its name and the first long-distance running event held in Masaka. The MTN Kampala Marathon is held in the Ugandan capital each year.

The Uganda Marathon was founded in 2014 by 3 ex-city workers: Henry Blanchard, Andrew Miller & Nick Kershaw. After seeing the difference that can be made by linking people with the projects that they have fundraised for, they decided to quit their jobs and launch the event as a way to get people out to Uganda to see the impact they have made and run alongside the communities that they have helped [4]

The first Uganda Marathon was held on 24 May 2015, more than 1,000 took part, with over 60 flying in for a full week before. In its first year, the Marathon raised over 325 million Ugandan Shillings ($90,000). All of this money was donated to 9 local projects which ranged from working with elderly residents to help them obtain a sustainable income to a charity battling HIV, which in some areas of Uganda affects 40 per cent of people. [4] As at the end of the 2018 event, over 9,000 people have competed in the race since its inception - with a further over 325 experiencing the full week as well.

In 2016, The Uganda Marathon became the largest sports fundraising event in Uganda after raising 600 million Ugandan Shillings ($168,000). [5] It also was voted the "Best International Event" in the 2016 Running Awards, [6] and named one of the '9 Best Marathons in the World' by Red Bull. [7]

In March 2020, the Uganda Marathon announced the postponement of the 2020 Uganda Marathon due to COVID-19 and government lockdown. In place of the physical marathon, a virtual event raised money for COVID relief efforts in Masaka.

In December 2021, the Uganda Marathon further announced that due to COVID-19 and the continued strict lockdown measures that were enforced by the Uganda government, the race needed to be further postponed to 2022. After a 2-year break, the marathon took place again on 4 June 2022.

Primary Sponsors

In 2019 The Uganda Marathon offered its first primary name sponsor to Africell Uganda, who remained the primary sponsor until 2022.

Here is the list of Primary Sponsors:

Event YearPrimary SponsorLogo
2019Africell
2022Eco Brixs

Results

The inaugural 2015 Uganda Marathon had a little over 1,000 entrants. It has been held annually ever since.

The 2018 edition saw more than 3,000 runners involved. [8] The winners and winning times for each edition are:

42 km - Men's winners
YearAthleteNationalityTimeNotes
2015Martin SsembulyaUganda02:46:22Course Record
2016Lubega RobertUganda02:44:00Course Record
2017Andrew KiplangKenya02:49:00
2018Andrew BiegonKenya02:31:55Course Record
42 km - Women's winners
YearAthleteNationalityTimeNotes
2015Nikki CoxNew Zealand04:04:31Course Record
2016Katie SloaneUnited Kingdom03:50:05Course Record
2017Chloe MossUnited Kingdom04:11:33
2018Phyllis TsangUSA04:11:23Course Record
2019Helen ChemutaiUganda
21 km - Men's winners
YearAthleteNationalityTimeNotes
2015Rega RobertsUganda01:15:08Course Record
2016UnknownUganda01:11:20Course Record
2017John KatdegaUganda01:09:59Course Record
2018Bahati SadicUganda01:11:05
2019Uganda
21 km - Women's winners
YearAthleteNationalityTimeNotes
2015UnknownUnknownUnknown
2016Mawa AndanartUgandaUnknown
2017Shila SainaKenya01:34:03Course Record
2018Amelia BeckstienGermany01:30:54Course Record
2019Annet ChebetUganda
10 km - Men's winners
YearAthleteNationalityTimeNotes
2015UnknownUnknownUnknown
2016UnknownUganda00:32:57Course Record
2017UnknownKenya00:31:46Course Record
2018Brian AtegekaUganda00:33:22
10 km - Women's winners
YearAthleteNationalityTimeNotes
2015UnknownUnknownUnknown
2016Sheila SainaKenyaUnknown
2017SomnaUganda00:42:47Course Record
2018Elizabeth TeehanUSA00:47:36
2019Amuron AgnesUganda00:40:12Course Record

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References

  1. "Uganda International Marathon - Uganda - Jun 01 2019 | ahotu Marathons". marathons.ahotu.com. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  2. "If the Boston Marathon Is too Easy for You, Try These Insane Races". 24 April 2019. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  3. "Kenya's Biegon wins Uganda International Marathon". www.newvision.co.ug. Retrieved 2 December 2017.
  4. 1 2 "Why we quit City careers to set up Uganda marathon". Evening Standard. Retrieved 2 December 2017.
  5. "Uganda International Marathon to raise sh600m". www.newvision.co.ug. Retrieved 2 December 2017.
  6. Awards, The Running. "2016 Results - The Running Awards". therunningawards.com. Retrieved 2 December 2017.
  7. "9 best marathons around the world in 2017 and 2018". www.redbull.com. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
  8. "The official Uganda Marathon - An Adventure Like No Other 2018 Results! - The Uganda Marathon". The Uganda Marathon. 18 June 2018. Retrieved 21 September 2018.