Team Matooke for the Kilimanjaro Marathon

Over 100 Ugandan runners under the banner ‘Team Matooke’ will participate in this year’s Kilimanjaro Marathon, due in Moshi, Tanzania, on February 25.

Fred Lutaaya, the running club’s president, will lead the Ugandan team in the annual and popular race, popularly known as the ‘Kili Marathon’.

They have been registered for the prestigious 42-kilometre and 21-kilometre races, according to him.

Team Matooke is a group of corporates from different professions who participate in races as non-professional runners to keep fit and have fun off their busy schedules.

They organise the monthly Kampala-Entebbe 21-42km run, every second Sunday of the month, and they will not be short of experience, as some of their members recently completed that monthly task, while many have experience from other marathons like the Tusker Lite Rwenzori Marathon in Kasese and even more gruelling races like the Comrades Marathon in South Africa.

“Team Matooke #WeRUNKampala exists to unite runners across Uganda to train them to run a full or half marathon each year,” Lutaaya notes.

Some of the runners for the Sunday race include vice-president Team Matooke Tony Ssali, senior counsel Francis Gimara, Sarah Nambogo, Tony Yawe, Anwar Sadat Kimsad, Felix Rutaro, Daniel Nyebesa, Evelyn Nyaburu Mulinda, Suzan Nabbosa, Fred Masadde, Richard Ngozi, Andu Debebe, Rueben Daniel, Maren Hald, Ibrahim Kasiita, Peter Ssekweyama, Fiona Ssozi, Ellis Katwebaze Isaac Muganda, and Anita Komukama, among others.

Three of their members will also represent the rest at the Abbott World Marathon Majors; the Tokyo and Boston marathons.

Girumu Fisseha, Ronald Namugera, and Collin Luswata will represent the group in Tokyo on March 3, while Namugera and Luswata will go to the Boston Marathon on April 15.

“We wish our Team Matooke runners to believe in the strength within them and the miles they have conquered already,” Lutaaya stated.