Hekima Molo Marathon Set For August 8 As Organisers Inspect Venue

By Elijah Cherutich

Athletics Kenya officials and Jesuit leaders have inspected preparations for the inaugural Proposed Hekima University Molo Marathon, set for Saturday, August 8, in Molo, Nakuru County.

Organisers say the race will support education, peace and community development in Molo and Kuresoi North sub-counties. They are targeting KSh200 million, mainly for the construction of an administration block at the proposed university campus. Scholarships, research and community programmes are also set to benefit.

The inspection brought together Athletics Kenya representatives and officials involved in setting up the Jesuit university. They reviewed the proposed campus site and the race plans.

Athletics Kenya Nakuru County chairperson Nancy Sigei said the event would encourage sport while also drawing attention to education and social development.

“Education is power in all forms,” Sigei said.

She urged young people to avoid antisocial behaviour and use education and sport to improve their chances in life. Sigei also said the growing number of athletics events in Nakuru had made it easier to identify and develop young athletes.

Nakuru has hosted several established races, including the Mau-Egerton Cross Country. At the launch of its 11th edition earlier this year, Sigei said the event had helped develop athletes who later competed internationally.

Jesuit priest Elias Mokua, the proposed university’s executive director and proposed vice-chancellor, said establishing the institution in Molo would create opportunities to combine academic training with talent development, including athletics.

He said partnerships with sports bodies and other stakeholders would help expand opportunities for young people and support development in nearby communities.

Odomaro Mubangizi, a Jesuit priest and the project’s director of academic affairs, said the organisers wanted to link athletics with education and encourage residents to take part in physical activity for its health benefits.

The peace campaign is tied to the area’s history. The commission that investigated Kenya’s 2007-08 post-election violence documented ethnic conflict in Molo and Kuresoi dating back to the return of multiparty politics in the early 1990s.

The Society of Jesus was founded in 1540 and opened its first school in Messina, Italy, in 1548, beginning a formal educational tradition that spans nearly five centuries. Hekima University College in Nairobi was founded in 1984 as a Jesuit school of theology.