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The Official Kilimanjaro
Marathon 2007
The
5th Kilimanjaro Marathon, Sunday 4 March 2007
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| COOL: the peak of Mount Kilimanjaro
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"Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows
it must outrun the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every
morning in Africa, a lion wakes up. It knows it must run
faster than the slowest gazelle, or it will starve. It doesn't
matter whether you're a lion or gazelle - when the sun comes
up, you'd better be running." - Anonymous
Situated south of the equator - in Tanzania - at 5 895 metres,
this is Africa's highest mountain and the highest "free
standing" mountain in the world. Huge permanent glaciers
flow down from the summit, and the sheer presence of this
huge mountain dominates the entire area. An icon in Africa,
"Kili " as she is affectionately known, is one
of the sights every person should see at least once in his
or her life.
On 04 March 2007, a standard 42.2 km marathon and a 21.1
km half marathon will be run from the town of Moshi, Tanzania.
This race has been set up to promote the sport in Tanzania,
and has the official backing of the Tanzania Tourist Board,
the Tanzania Amateur Athletics Association, the IAAF,
and is registered with AIMS.
The marathon route leaves Moshi stadium and heads down
towards the town, and then along the main road to Dar-Es-Salaam
for approximately 8-9km. This section of the route is
relatively flat, and there are plenty of well-wishers
along the road. We turn around and head back to the town
of Moshi, tracking down into the actual town itself before
turning toward the mountain and heading up a long, steady
ascent towards Mweka. The uphill climb is gradual, but
with Kilimanjaro towering above and all the local villagers
out to cheer you on, the time passes quickly. The turnaround
point marks approximately 32km and the last section is
a fast downhill run back toward the stadium. Regular water
tables as well as 'sponging points' and the odd 'shower'
keep the runners refreshed and cool along the entire route.
The route passes through many small holder farms, villages,
parts of town, banana and coffee plantations and patches
of forest, providing great excitement to the residents
who give ample vocal support.
For those running the half marathon, the route also starts
at the Moshi stadium and after a short section on the
flat, it follows the gradual uphill route to Mweka as
per the full marathon - before turning around at approx
10km to return to the stadium again. The atmosphere in
the stadium is electric with local bands playing, entertainment,
crowds of local enthusiasts to cheer the runners, and
lots of food and drink for sale.
The logistics of the operation are run by the Kilimanjaro
Marathon Club and the members of both the Tanzania Amateur
Athletics Association (TAAA) and the local Kilimanjaro
Amateur Athletics Association (KAAA).
Travel arrangements and packages to access the race are
being provided by Wild Frontiers, the official tour operator,
a South African, Tanzanian and Ugandan based tour operator,
who are experienced in Tanzania travel and logistics and
who are members of the South African Tour Operators Association
and ASATA, and who is the largest tour operator into Tanzania
from South Africa.
The race is completely backed up, with twelve water points
being provided and manned by local organisations. Crowd
control and traffic control are provided for, as is medical
assistance and communications. Official timekeeping is
arranged, as is an official prize giving and function
attended by local dignitaries.
The Runners
Interest in this race is extremely high, with both the
Tanzanians and Kenyans being keen to enter teams and individuals.
The Athletics Associations of Ethiopia and Uganda are
being approached to enter this race, as well as other
countries in the region. The competition to win this race
is calling some of Africas best marathon runners to Tanzania.
This does NOT preclude the social runners, and apart from
the excitement of participating in a race in such an amazing
area, with Africa's highest mountain as a backdrop, this
race is run in one of the best seasons of the year for
additional travel to Tanzania's famous game parks (the
Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater - timed to coincide with
the annual migration of over a million wildebeest into
the Serengeti - the largest migration of these animals
on the planet!), and to the Spice Island of Zanzibar,
famed for it's pristine beaches and scuba diving, or other
areas .
Packages to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro prior to the race, or
after the race, will be available, and to visit the parks
etc as above, through Wild Frontiers.
The Prizes
For the 2006 Kilimanjaro Marathon, prizes were offered
down to 10th place for both men and women.
2007 Prizes to be advised.
| Place: |
Men & Women: |
Total (in TSh): |
| 1st |
2,500,000 |
5,000,000 |
| 2nd |
800,000 |
1,600,000 |
| 3rd |
500,000 |
1,000,000 |
| 4th |
300,000 |
600,000 |
| 5th |
250,000 |
500,000 |
| 6th |
150,000 |
300,000 |
| 7th |
100,000 |
200,000 |
| 8th |
80,000 |
160,000 |
| 9th |
60,000 |
120,000 |
| 10th |
50,000 |
100,000 |
| |
Total in price money: |
9,580,000 |
2006 Kilimanjaro Half Marathon prizes were offered down
to 5th place for both men and women.
2007 Prizes to be advised.
| Place: |
Men & Women: |
Total (in TSh): |
| 1st |
650,000 |
1,300,000 |
| 2nd |
325,000 |
650,000 |
| 3rd |
150,000 |
300,000 |
| 4th |
75,000 |
150,000 |
| 5th |
50,000 |
100,000 |
| |
Total in price money: |
2,500,000 |
There will also be spot prizes which we will also advise
closer to the event.
The Media
Apart from local print and TV, this race will be covered
extensively in South African and possibly international
TV and radio, and of course athletics magazines. The whole
event is being filmed by a contracted company for inclusion
in TV channels after the event. SS1; 2 and CSN broadcasted
the 2006 full and half marathon at the beginning of March
2006.
The Sponsors
The main sponsor has been secured as Tanzania Breweries
Limited, and the official sponsor is the Kilimanjaro brand
of beer! Other sponsors, to be finally confirmed, will be
contributing to the medals, the watering points and also
fully sponsoring their own teams.
Why not sponsor your own team ?? Contact us for more details
on travel packages.
Community Involvement
Currently, projects in the rural Moshi area are being looked
at to develop with funds raised from this project, such
as schools and clinics which the community feels are needed
- this is being done with the assistance of Mr Phil Ndesamburo
and local community leaders. The local hospital in Moshi
has been selected for this years race, in particular the
maternity ward.
Charity Donation
Wild Frontiers & Keys Hotel and a UK based tour operator
are involved with building, furnishing and where possible
stocking a local Moshi school.
The Kiboroloni Primary School has approx 700 pupils, and
recently a first phase of the senior wing was built. The
building of the second phase classes are in the process
of being funded this year.
There is a dire shortage of school places in Moshi Region,
especially senior school .
In Tanzania, it is often difficult to get hold of good quality
books and supplies for schools, and often shortages mean
that children have to share a book between many of them
at a time, as such learning may be curbed because of this.
We would like to suggest, that you may like to take up
a reading book, or pens, pencils or crayons, stationery,
etc etc for donating to charity. These items may be new
or used, and obviously should be in English (books) - for
any age group. We will have a central collecting point at
the Keys Hotel in Moshi, and they will ensure that all donations
are passed directly to the Headmaster of the school - whether
it be senior or primary level. Any books - even National
Geographic magazines - will be welcomed.
A small donation of this kind will be greatly appreciated
by the pupils and teachers alike.
Please note that this is merely a suggestion - please don't
feel compelled to buy books etc, but any donations would
be most welcome. If you would like to visit the school ,
please ask the reception at Keys to arrange for you.
The Packages
A "basic" package, consisting of flights Johannesburg
/ Kilimanjaro / Dar es Salaam / Johannesburg on Air Tanzania,
transfers to and from the airport, the race entry and the
medals/T- shirts etc, 3 nights hotel accommodation in Moshi
and 1 night accommodation in Dar es Salaam, returning to
Johannesburg can be viewed in our Travel Packages section.
A package will also be available ex Nairobi for international
guests entering East Africa here, and for runners arriving
in Kilimanjaro from Europe.
All packages can be viewed at Travel Packages.
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THE
RACE 
