Marathon brings runners and hope to hard-hit Rwenzori

Kasese may be bursting at the seams, but the hawkers selling grilled chicken and “rolexes”—the signature Ugandan street food of an omelette rolled into a chapati—don’t flinch at the crowds but they celebrate them. 

More than 3,600 runners from 33 countries as well as some 100,000 Ugandan spectators have flocked to this mountain town, just a few kilometres from the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo, for the Rwenzori Marathon.

In a district that has been wracked by violence, climate crises, and disease—including Uganda’s first mpox cases—it’s a welcome change, and one that lasts far longer than the race day on August 24.

Now in its third year, the Tusker Lite Rwenzori Marathon has grown remarkably since it first attracted just 800 runners from four countries in 2022. 

In the process, the influx of visitors has helped revitalise Kasese and boost tourism to the surrounding area as it grapples with the impact of climate change on its agrarian economy—a trend that top officials say could be a model for the rest of the country. 

The race is also helping to improve Uganda’s sporting prospects as the country seeks to challenge Kenya’s long-established dominance in distance running. The fact that the marathon marks in a multi-day street party is just an added bonus.

The marathon is the brainchild of Amos Wekesa, an operator of tourism businesses across East Africa, who witnessed how emphasising sport and adventure tourism turned the fortunes of another town—and decided to replicate the model in Kasese.

“I saw how much money the Tanzanians made because of the Kilimanjaro Marathon, and I thought about the people in Kasese, and the negative image the place has had, from terror and the ADF (Allied Democratic Forces) to outbreaks of diseases,” says Wekesa. “The region has now gained a lot of opportunity.”

Along with a passion for Kasese and Uganda’s sporting programme, Wekesa also stands to gain from added tourism to the area.

He runs multiple lodges in the nearby Queen Elizabeth National Park as well as Primate Lodge in Kibale National Park, home to one of the world’s largest concentrations of primates.

But Wekesa is far from the only person to have benefited from an influx of new visitors to Kasese. Residents say the roads have improved significantly since the first marathon.

Hawkers increase prices for typical street food, and the local bars on the main strip in Kasese are filled with new faces.

“The marathon is good business,” says James, a soybean farmer from Kasese who on the weekend of the marathon borrowed a boda boda to shuttle visitors around.

“It has been boosting business,” says Rebecca Birra, who completed the Kasese 5km race in her wheelchair. 

An influx of tourists has brought in more money for both her local cooperative of people with disabilities who make handicraft, as well as for her own family, she said, with her daughter selling eggs on the day of the marathon.

Not everyone is overwhelmingly positive about the impact on Kasese, however. 

Balaam Baluku, a Kasese resident who participated in the race, acknowledged that “our district is getting publicity, and it will benefit us in the long run,” but added that “the trickle-down has not been felt by everyone.” 

The marathon’s corporate sponsors dominate the beer tents, to the detriment of local bars, he says, and noted that some chicken sellers had been brought in from Kampala, pushing out locals.

Growing pains for the marathon in its third year soon seem forgotten as the party continues. It never really stopped, though—some of the running clubs from Kampala drank the whole bus ride to Kasese and partied right through the night.

At hydration stations, Tusker Lites are handed out, alongside water. 

Foreigners from as far-flung as Guatemala, the UK, and Singapore are impressed. 

“I’ve never seen the town like this. It feels really good,” says Jad Belmezouai, a French national working in Kasese. 

“We’re here for the vibes,” adds Michaela Kriechmayr, an Austrian travelling through Uganda.

The economic boost and good vibes in Kasese are all the more remarkable because of how much pressure the district has been under.

Not only has it faced health scares and security threats—ISIS-linked ADF killed 42 people in a massacre in the district last year—but it is one of the most vulnerable areas of Uganda to climate change.

“Too much rain in western Uganda and the Rwenzori leads to floods, landslides, with consequences that are really hard, because communities have been swept away,” says Alfred Okot Okidi, the top civil servant in Uganda’s ministry of water and environment. 

He adds that melting glaciers in the Rwenzori can unlock massive boulders that roll down the mountain, leaving destruction in their wake. 

“With more tourists coming, the ripple effects will be on the farmers and on the people who are now employed in the tourism chain, because they are going to be able to make more money,” Mr Okidi says.

Indeed, the boom of sport travel to Kasese, as well as a growing adventure tourism sector more broadly, with climbers trekking in the Rwenzori, have changed things.

While the marathon may be just one day, it creates enough economic activity in the town for a whole year, according to the Ministry of Tourism, Wildlife and Antiquities.

It’s a model that officials hope can be replicated elsewhere in Uganda, which has struggled to attract as many travellers as its neighbours Kenya and Tanzania.

While travellers can enjoy game drives for much lower prices in Uganda, tourism has been slower to develop—not helped by foreign governments warning travellers over anti-gay laws in Uganda—though sports and adventure visits could be a promising niche.

“Tourism is one of the easiest sectors to fund, because there’s less invested capital and the return is high. And we are now turning to those areas that are underexplored, like sports tourism,” says Odrek Rwabwogo, head of the Presidential Advisory Committee on Exports and Industrial Development and a son-in-law of President Yoweri Museveni.

As organisers and the government have poured funds into Kasese, sporting success has followed. The 2024 edition of the race is the first event in Uganda certified by World Athletics, a milestone that will allow runners to qualify for prestigious international races like the Olympics without leaving the country.

Officials say that should lift barriers to accessibility that have held back Ugandan runners, accelerating the country’s athletic programme as it challenges East Africa’s dominant players in Kenya and Ethiopia.

“Lots of the talented runners in Uganda come from underprivileged families, and they cannot afford to go to other countries in order to qualify for races.

“But today, they can qualify for world majors—we are providing an opportunity for those that are talented to test themselves for international opportunities,” Mr Wekesa says.

The top finishers of the marathon and half-marathon are not from Kasese district, but the locals don’t seem to mind. As the runners wind through the mountain roads, they pass groups of farming families that crowd the sidelines to cheer the competitors on.

Along the course are multiple groups of women dancing to local music, and children run alongside the athletes, showing no signs of being out of breath.

“Next year I want the winner to be from Rwenzori,” Peter Ogwang, Minister of State for Sports, shouts as he ends his speech after the marathon and prize-giving. 

The crowds cheer, as much for him and the prospect of a winner from Kasese as for the party building up again in the background.

This article originally appeared on The East African