Tuku Afrika take GER preps to Lira
Relishing an opportunity. Uganda’s runners at the 2017 Great Ethiopian Run and Tuku’s Ogwal. COURTESY PHOTO.
KAMPALA- Today, Tuku Afrika will hold a 21km half-marathon in Lira in a bid to spot talent for the future.
Tuku Africa launched in Uganda in October 2017 is a company that promotes sports tourism all over Africa and has for two consecutive years, through a partnership with great long distance runner Haile Gebreselassie, sponsored athletes to the Great Ethiopian Run (GER) and tour the country.
Risper Chebet, Esther Yeko Chekwemoi, Joel Kiplagat and Leonard Chemonges represented Uganda last year.
“We want to spot raw and young talent then find ways of grooming it,” Robert Henry Ogwal alias Raster Rob MC, the ompany’s regional director for eastern, central and southern Africa, told Sunday Monitor before confirming that Olympic and world marathon champion Stephen Kiprotich, will flag off the runners.
In Lira, the Tuku Run is expected to attract about 80 youths this morning including John Akii Bua’s grandson Akii Kizito. The half-marathon is also expected to extend to western and central Uganda while athletes taken to GER in the past two years have mostly come Kapchorwa.
“Next year in May, we hope to commemorate the Africa Day with a 10km run but for now we are preparing athletes for the GER and to take Ugandans to the Africa Cup in Egypt, where they can also tour historical sites,” Ogwal said.
