The Safaricom Marathon was run on Lewa on Saturday 23 June. The event broke many records and was a great success. The day was overcast and cool which probably contributed to the fastest time ever by Cyprian Kiogora for the men's race at 2hrs 19mins and 39secs. Irene Mogaka won the women's race for the second time in consecutive years. In total over 710 runners finished the half marathon, 166 the full and 125 youngsters competed in the children's race. A record number of 75 teams all helped to raise a significant amount for the Conservancy and related community projects.

The event could not have been run without the 100% support of Tusk Trust and in particular Sarah Watson who in addition to organising the event with her usual style and zeal was multi tasking as a new mum!

Amongst the runners was a team of celebrities from the BBC who were here as part of a programme "Saving Planet Earth" which will be transmitted as a telethon on 7 July. Ruby Wax was commentating with Jon Culshaw, Les Dennis, Michaela Strachan, Kelli Young and Jeremy Edwards relay running the full event, A special programme on the marathon will also be shown:

Friday 6th July
Saving Planet Earth - LIVE - Fundraising Extravaganza
BBC1
7-8pm & 8.30- 10pm (The marathon footage will be shown in a series of short strands throughout the night.)

Monday 9th July
"Running Wild"
BBC1
7.30-8.00pm (This is a dedicated 30 minute documentary)
See for more details: Saving Planet Earth website.

To add to our list of visiting celebrities Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman dropped in on Wednesday 27th June as part of their trip "The Long Way Down" as they bike (motor bike that is!) through Africa. They are visiting "to see some wildlife" - something they have not seen much of yet!

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