Despite the heavy rains currently being experienced in Kilimanjaro Region, participants and spectators braved the early morning rain ot take part in the famous Kilimanjaro International Marathon.
Kenyan athlete William Morwabe is among participants who defied all odds to go ahead and win the 2026 Kilimanjaro Premium Lager’s Full-marathon, clocking 2:18:52 to win the race which was dominated by Kenyans in both full-marathon (Kilimanjaro Premium Lager 42km) categories while their Tanzanian counterparts did the same in the 21km (Yas Half-Marathon).
During the race, the second place was taken by Letanto Stephen also from Kenya who ran in 2:19:21 while third place was taken by a Tanzanian Charles Sule who ran in 2:19:31.
In the women's category, the first place was taken by a Kenyan Alice Kamunya who ran in 2:50:33, while the second place was taken by a Tanzanian Angel John who ran in 2:58:19 while the third place was taken by another Tanzanian Neema Sanka who ran in 3:03:13.
In the 21km race (Yas half-marathon) which was highly competitive, the winner in the men's category was Tanzanian Mayko Geay who ran in 1:04:10 and was closely followed by another Tanzanian Josephat Gisemo who ran in 1:04:12 while the third place was taken by Kenyan James Mwangu who ran in 1:04:16.
In the women's category, the winner was Hamida Mussa from Tanzania who ran in 1:12:45, followed by Tanzanian Failuna Matanga who ran in 1:13:02, while third place was taken by Kenyan Verinica Wanjiku who ran in 1:15:00.
Makonda who participated in the 5 km CRDB Bank Fun Run and the importance of fitness to improve health, praised the organizers of the Kilimanjaro Premium Lager International whereby he said the event has built Tanzania's great prestige in the international sports arena.
"This race, apart from strengthening the sports sector in the country, the event has also contributed significantly to the growing of the national economy due to the big number of people who come to participate in this international event from outside the country every year", he said.
He added, “The Kilimanjaro Premium Lager International Marathon continues to be a major international event, promoting health and community strength as well the economic well-being of the nation and Tanzanians in general”.
“May I take this opportunity to commend the organizers and sponsors for making this event sustainable a move which showcase our country's capability in hosting international sporting events which attracts thousands of runners, promoting tourism and international engagement”, he said.
He also conveyed President Samia Suluhu’s message promising to attend next year’s event and pledged Tsh 100million as prize money for the winners.
On her part, the Tanzania Breweries Limited (TBL) Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Michelle Kilpin who are the main sponsors through Kilimanjaro Premium Lager, Michelle Kilpin said the company was proud to have sponsored the event for 24 years now since it was started.
She further noted that, apart from promoting sports, the event plays a big role in promoting the country’s tourism sector, as well as making Tanzania continue to be recognized worldwide.
“TBL as the main sponsor of the Kili Marathon has continued to contribute for the improvement of this race by among other things improving the prizes for winners; we are impressed that the event continues to attract more participants every year, whereby there are more than 15,000 participants and almost the same number of our visitors; we very proud to be part of the Kilimanjaro Marathon family”, she said.
The Yas Tanzania PLC CEO Pierre Canton-Bacara, ““YAS is proud to continue been the official sponsors of the Kilimanjaro International Half Marathon for 11th year; our partnership in this event reflects our commitment to connecting and empowering communities across Tanzania; as a key partner in national progress, we will continue to champion talent development, promote tourism, support health and economic initiatives, all powered by our superior 4G and 5G technology services”.
He said apart from the event, the company has also played a big role in improving the environment in Kilimanjaro region by facilitating the planting of trees various within Kilimanjaro region and that the projection is to plant more than 50,000 this year.
The CRDB Bank Chief Operations Officer, Bruce Mwile said they were proud to for the second year running sponsor the 5km Fun Run which is becoming bigger and better by the day and a good forum for the bank to interact with its customers and other stakeholders.
This year’s sponsors include Main Sponsor – Kilimanjaro Premium Lager in the 42.2 kilometers category, while YAS is the official sponsor of the Half Marathon (21 km), and CRDB Bank sponsors the 5 km Fun Run.
Official Supporting Sponsors – Kilimanjaro Water and TPC Sugar, while Official Partners are – GardaWorld Security, Toyota Tanzania, Columbia Sportswear, Simba Cement, Harleys Healthcare Solutions and ALAF Limited.
Official race suppliers are Salinero Hotel, Kibo Palace Hotel Arusha, and Keys Hotel Moshi.
The event is organized by Kilimanjaro Marathon Company Limited every year in Moshi while Wild Frontiers Events are responsible for all the inbound travel and international marketing of the event.
