Sunny skies and a cool forest morning set the stage for the inaugural Arabuko Sokoke Elephant Trail Run near Watamu, Kenya, at the weekend, attracting a field of 31 enthusiastic runners.

The competitors were drawn mainly from the Wanariadha Running Club alongside international runners from Italy, Germany and the United Kingdom, supported by nearly 50 volunteers and cheered by dozens of VIP’s who included the day’s chief guest, Dr Ruth Masha, Kilifi’s Sports executive, alongside George Hywel, Griot Consulting’s Global Director.

Griot Consulting specialize in the development, design, implementation, and financing of projects aimed at promoting renewable resources and mitigating environmental impact.

The weekend’s activation trail run was a preamble for the main Arabuko Sokoke Elephant Trail Run tentatively planned for June 28, 2025. 

Also present were Kilifi County Government executives, including Peter Mwarogo (Health), Lilian Mupuli of IFAW, Abdalla Kusso of Vipingo Ridge, Michael Owinga of Davis & Shirtliff who were joined by community members and leaders from across the area.

“The race was very well organized and the trail was beautiful,” said the five-kilometre race winner Felix Munyaka who crossed the finish line in an impressive 22 minutes and 49 seconds, a good time under the difficult conditions.

“I will definitely come back again next year,” he added.

“It was great to run in the forest during the day as temperatures are cooler compared to running outside the forest… it's tough to run on the sandy trails, but a good exercise for the calf muscles,” added Jane Masita, the women’s 10km race winner.

Doris Wakio won the women’s 5km race in 35:34 with the men’s 10km race won by Urbanus Mutuku in 42:15 as Masita took the women’s 10km title in one hour, six minutes. 

All of the race winners received cash prizes, while the 10km winners received Timex sports watches in addition to their cash prizes.

The event was sponsored by Griot Consulting based in Kilifi with additional support coming from Conley Sports Productions based in North Carolina, USA.

“We feel that events like this will help bring the community closer together and help support the forest ecosystem,” said George Hywel of Griot Consulting.

“This was a very well-organized event and we look forward to next year’s run.”
Doreen Agwata, General Manager of Blaze Sports Marketing Agency who put the event together noted: “This was our activation run to set the stage for an expanded and more ambitious Elephant Trail Run next year.

“It was a great day and a fantastic opportunity to expose runners from the surrounding communities to the beauty and importance of this forest.

“We will continue organizing running events at the Arabuko Sokoke Forest and other locations between Malindi and Mombasa to promote tourism and generate commerce for our community.”

Twahir Kiraga, Vice-Chairman of the Kenya Forest Association, said the event would help raise awareness on the importance of the ecosystem.

“This was a very well-organized effort and is the beginning of a dream come true that through sports, we can interact with so many different people to create awareness of the importance of this ecosystem,” he said.

“Marketing Arabuko this way will attract runners from all over the world… Our major challenge is a lack of money so this event is the beginning of something good for us.”

Trail running is picking up in Kenya with efforts also underway to develop forest and trail runs in the North Rift region.