The third edition of the Castle Lite Rwenzori Marathon will come earlier than it was for the second edition which was held in September this year.

Next year’s edition which is expected to attract a bigger number of runners will be held on August 24, 2024 according to the organisers from Equator Hikes.

During a post-marathon stakeholder’s luncheon at Golden Turip Hotel on Thursday at which the sponsors of the event were recognized, Equator Hikes Amos Wekesa said the dates had been revised to enable more participation from several international runners.

Amos Wekesa (left) and the State Minister for ICT and National Guidance Godfrey Kabyanga (right) pose with Roy Tumwizere the brand manager Castle Lite as they hand him an appreciation award and certificate. Photo by Michael Nsubuga

“Our dream is to make the Rwenzori very famous such that we can get 200m dollars going into the economy of the Rwenzori sub-region in the future. Our project next year is to have at least 4000 runners from 30 countries,” Wekesa said.

He said the ‘best 21km run in the world’ is expected to continue growing and benefiting the people of Kasese from all walks of business; from the hotels, boda-bodas, restaurants, and other businesses all tapping into the marathon.

Collin Masiga, another Equator Hikes official, noted that the marathon is a social enterprise aimed at benefiting society. He said its objectives include promoting a healthy lifestyle among Ugandans, creating a competitive program for Ugandan athletes and educating the masses about climate change and its adverse effects on nature and human life, and promoting sports tourism among other virtues.

Amos Wekesa (left) and the State Minister for ICT and National Guidance Godfrey Kabyanga (right) pose with Joan Kitawona from Hima Cement after giving her the appreciation award and certificate. Photo by Michael Nsubuga

He said last year there were about 5000 runners that visited Kasese during the marathon besides 2500 that bought kits.

He said next year’s event will be launched in January for the international runners, while the local registration will start in April with the local launch set for May with the kit available in July, one month before the event.

The State Minister for ICT and National Guidance Godfrey Kabyanga who is a former runner and was in the company of Busongola South MP Tembo Mujungu encouraged people to exercise not only through the marathon but regularly. He noted that the marathon had given a new face to Kasese. He thanked Wekesa and all the sponsors for coming to the Rwenzori to support environment conservation.

“We are going to support this marathon because it supports the well-being of the natives. We are going to organize our people so that they can tap into the economic benefits of the event.

“I urge you to organize more marathons; the roads in Kasese will be better by next year’s event. We shall give you maximum support for this marathon and next time it is going to be better; the marathon has woken us up, many hotels have come up on the Kasese escarpment and our people are happy,” Kabyanga stated.

Sponsor representatives from Uganda Breweries (Castle Lite), Standard Chartered Bank, Hima Cement, UBC, and CFAO Motors were all recognized for their contribution to the second edition's success.

“We at UBL and in particular Castle Lite are proud to have been part of the marathon and just seeing the number grow makes us happy the key thing for us as a brand is to see that the event is changing lives in Kasese, and we will want to be part of many more marathons to come,” Roy Tumwizere the brand manager Castle Lite, said.

“We are in for the long haul because this is a fantastic partnership and in the spirit of Tusker Lite we will be turning on the lights in the preceding years,”

Joan Kitawona from Hima Cement said they were so proud to be part of the marathon because the objectives of the marathon align with their strategy of promoting healthy living and environment conservation, sustainability drive to reduce carbon emissions as well as promoting talent identification as part of their CSR activities and sports tourism.

Francis Asiimwe from Standard Chartered Bank and Patricia Tusubira from the CFAO marketing department promised more support for the annual event with the latter saying it was lovely to see the local community cheering on the runners.

Jim Ayorekire from the Tourism Research and Development Center who partnered with Equator Hikes and conducted research to gain insights and understand the impact of the marathon in Kasese and Rwenzori region in general noted that marathons had gained significant popularity in Uganda and the world in general.

Their research where they interviewed the marathon organisers, local leaders, business enterprises, accommodation facilities, and marathon participants said the marathon had an economic impact on different businesses among other findings.