I have promised to restrict my mad races to one every second year & I have been tossing up what to do next. I really need something out there to get me going and was torn between the Big Five or Safaricom Marathons through game reserves in South Africa/Kenya and the Antarctica Marathon which really captured my imagination.
Unfortunately the Antarctica Marathon has been sold out for 2010, 2011 & 2012 so I will be putting a deposit down for the 2013 entry to lock it in and that means a return to Africa and I have set my heart on Kenya as I have already spent close to a year in South Africa in 1995/96.
The Safaricom Marathon was conceived in 1999 by Tusk Trust, a London-based charitable organization dedicated toward preserving wildlife in its natural habitat. The event, the only marathon run in a game park, is run on dirt roads within the 62,000 acre Lewa Wildlife Conservancy. The two-looped course offers some of Kenya's most beautiful scenery with Mount Kenya lying 20 miles to the south and Samburu National Park and Mt. Lololokwe to the north.
Lewa is home to over 100 black and white rhino, herds of elephant and a vast assortment of plains game including oryx, eland, zebra, giraffe, buffalo and more. Lion, leopard and cheetah also can be seen.The course is patrolled by a spotter plane and helicopter as well as a large and experienced team of armed rangers to avoid any confrontations with the four-legged residents. There are manned aid stations every 5K and water stations every 2-1/2K. The local Masai and Samburu communities will not only run alongside visitors but will also entertain participants during race day.
The race will be in late June 2011 so any other takers out there let me know and we can work on a joint venture!
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i have been wanting to run this marathon forever but i have not been able to find out where to sign up or any thing like that could you send me the info on the 2013 race?
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