Rwanda scoops two gold medals in Kigali Peace Marathon

This year’s edition of the Kigali Peace Marathon was a history in the making as Noel Hitimana and Salome Nyirarukundo unsettled Kenyan dominance and won the half marathon categories.

The much anticipated event that took place on this Sunday, saw over 8000 participants gather at Amahoro National Stadium.

The race was divided into three categories; the 42km marathon, half marathon of 21km and a 10-kilometre run for peace.

Speaking to the press, Nyirarukundo Salome who had been banned to participate due to health issues, said she was driven to defend a medal for her country despite her lack of preparation for the marathon.

“Everyone is here to win. I did my best so to defend the medal I won last year, and I can say that it wasn’t an easy feat as the Kenyan athlete who was behind me was rather srong. I was only driven by making Rwanda proud and I’m glad that I made it.” she said

RAF President Fidele Mubiligi said that he was overall pleased with the way the 14th Peace Marathon went. He thanked again sponsors who achieved in making this year’s edition of the Peace marathon a success.

Sponsors of the 2018 Kigali International Peace Marathon included MTN, Bank of Kigali, Skol, Rwanda Motorcycle Company (RMC), RwandaAir and others.

Thierry Nshuti, the Head of Marketing and Product development at Bank of Kigali said that as sponsors, they were more than satisfied with the course of the 2018 Kigali International Peace Marathon and that they were glad that Rwandans had started to have a spirit of competition and were more driven to win.

“As sponsors of the Kigali International Peace Marathon, we are very happy with its evolution and we are glad that Rwandans were able to participate in great numbers and win.” he said.

Gold medalists in the full-marathon for both men and women’s categories were prized with Rwf2 million cash, while silver medalists were awarded with Rwf1.6 million and Rwf1.4 million cash prize for bronze medalists. The fourth and fifth finishers walked away with 1 million and 800,000 Rwandan francs respectively.

As of the half-marathon, gold medalists scooped a Rwf1 million cash prize while the first and second runners-up were awarded 700,000 and 500,000 Rwandan francs. The fourth, fifth and sixth finishers were given 400,000 Rwandan francs, 350,000 Rwandan francs, 300,000 Rwandan francs respectively.

The Kigali international peace marathon was launched 13 years ago in a drive to promote peace and reconciliation after the devastating 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi that claimed over one million lives in a 100 days.